Naruto: Hidden Legacy
by SlytherinNinjaKnight
Summary: What if Naruto was related to another famous ninja in addition to Minato and Kushina, and what if he learned of this relation on the night of the Forbidden Scroll incident? Follow along as Naruto tries to live up to his family's 'hidden' legacy and become the next Hokage for the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Rated M for violence, language and safety.
1. A Legacy Revealed

**Disclaimer: _Naruto _IS NOT MINE! I don't own any of this, except for the changes I am making to the plot of the wonderful creation of Masashi Kishimoto. **

**A/N 1: Anyway, welcome to my newest project. In honor of Naruto having only a handful of chapters left, I've been in a bit of a Naruto-kick recently. And so I decided to start up a new Naruto story, this will be different than '_Underneath the Underneath_' in several ways but I won't say much more since it will spoil things. But moving on from that, I hope you all enjoy this new journey throughout the Naruto story.**

_'Man, jiji must be really slipping,_' a blonde blur thought as it sped through a rapidly darkening forest, a large scroll strapped to his back. The scroll was massive; it was nearly the size of the young boy who was carrying it. _'I can't believe how easy this was, I mean, it was just sitting there in jiji's office.'_

As soon as this thought passed through Naruto Uzumaki's head, it caused him to do something that many people believed him incapable of doing, think.

'_Why was this so easy?_' the blonde pondered. '_Jiji is the strongest ninja in the village, why would this scroll be in his office unless it is really important? But why was it so lightly guarded, I mean come on, I know I'm pretty good at stealth for a kid but there is no way that jiji would let me just walk out of his office with something so important. And Mizuki-sensei knew where is was, how?'_

Naruto stopped at a clearing, about a ½ mile outside the village, the place where Mizuki said he would administer the make-up exam.

"There has got to be something going on," Naruto muttered as he slung the scroll off his back. "I should take this back to jiji, he would understand…But what if I'm caught before I find him, jiji is the only one who believes me, the others wouldn't believe me. I think it's too late to turn back now. If I'm right, and this is a set up then the best thing to do is…spring the trap."

Naruto looked down at the large scroll at his side. "I better get to work then, have to make this look convincing," he shrugged. "Come on, open you stupid scroll!" Naruto growled as he tried to open the large scroll. "Ow!" he yelped as he lightly cut his hand on the scroll's edge. Before he could stop them, several drops of blood fell from his hand and landed on the scroll.

The scroll glowed a bright blue and peeled open. Naruto starred at the now-open scroll, he noticed a circle of writing for a spilt second before there came a small explosion of smoke that obscured the scroll. Naruto yelped and scrambled backward from the scroll as a tall man appeared in the middle of the cloud of smoke.

This man had spiky gray hair, with dark eyes that seemed to catch everything and, to Naruto, pierce right through his very being. The man's face was framed by an odd-looking piece of armor with Konoha's symbol etched in the center. Naruto swallowed a lump in his throat as the man looked down at him.

"Where am I boy?" the man asked, his voice sharp and heavy with the air of command. Naruto knew that this man meant business and wanted answers fast.

"Konoha," Naruto stammered. The man nodded.

"Who are you?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

The man's eyebrow rose at Naruto's answer.

"Do you know who I am?" Naruto shook his head, though the man's face did seem familiar. "I am Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage."

"Nidaime Hokage? But jiji is the Hokage!" Naruto shouted.

"Jiji? What Hokage is this jiji?"

"Jiji is the Sandaime Hokage," Naruto answered.

"Hiruzen," Tobirama said softly.

"Wait, if you are the Nidaime Hokage, that means you are dead!" Naruto cried. "Are you a ghost?" he asked, his voice trembling.

"I am a **Shadow Clone**," Tobirama said.

"**Shadow Clone**?"

"How old are you Naruto-san?"

"I'm 12!"

"Are you a shinobi?"

"Of course," Naruto shouted. "Well, not yet, I am still in the Academy. But once I learn a jutsu from this scroll, I'll be a ninja!"

Tobirama gazed down at the blonde boy before him. He could sense that the boy in front of him held an immense amount of chakra, especially for one so young. But as he sensed deeper, Tobirama felt something that he had only sensed once before in his sister-in-law, Mito Uzumaki.

'_This boy hold the Kyubi,_' Tobirama thought. '_But it seems that he is unaware of it, if he were, then there is no way that Saru would not have made him a ninja already._'

"Hey clone guy, can you teach me that **Shadow Clone** jutsu?" Naruto asked. "The **Clone Jutsu** is the one jutsu I just can't get to work, and I've failed the exam always because of it."

'_If he has such chakra and very little control over his chakra, then he would not be able to perform the _**Clone Jutsu**_,_' Tobirama thought. '_The _**Shadow Clone Jutsu** _would suit him well._'

"Very well Uzumaki-san, I will teach you the **Shadow Clone Jutsu**," Tobirama announced.

"All right!" Naruto shouted with joy, pumping his fist into the air.

"Silence," Tobirama barked, causing Naruto to fall silent. "Do not believe I am doing this as a kindness boy. Even from the short time I have observed you, I can tell that you have no idea what it means to be a shinobi. You believe that being a shinobi just fun and games, flashy jutsu and being a hero. You are wrong, being a shinobi is to become the pillar of strength. Being a ninja is to be the one who will shoulder the burdens of the village. You will do whatever it takes to protect the village; do you think that you can do that? Become the pillar that holds the house that is Konoha upright?"

"Yes sir," Naruto vowed, his eyes brimming with determination.

Tobirama nodded. '_This boy, he is much like you were brother when we were younger,_' the Nidaime thought, a small smile appearing on his face. '_But he was able to open this scroll, which means he is related to both of us. Could Akemi-chan have been?_'

"I did it!" Naruto shouted as he successfully performed the **Shadow Clone Jutsu** for the fifth consecutive time.

Tobirama nodded at the sight of the blonde boy running around in celebration for successfully learning a B-rank kinjutsu, of his own make, in only two hours. The clone of the deceased Hokage admitted to himself that the boy, Naruto, had quite a bit of talent but it seemed that his greatest strength was also his greatest weakness; Naruto had too much chakra. If the boy didn't burn chakra, he would get jittery and hyper and that meant he couldn't concentrate.

"Naruto-san," Tobirama said garnering the boy's attention. "My chakra is running low and soon I will dispel."

"What! Why?" Naruto cried.

"It is the way of things," Tobirama said stoically. "Now, I can sense a person quickly approaching our position, so I will make this quick. The scroll you opened would have only done so if the blood spilt on it matches my own."

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked, his voice quiet.

"It means that on some level, we are related Naruto-san," Tobirama said. "Who were your parents?"

Naruto's face fell. "I don't know," he said. "Jiji has only told me that they died in the Kyubi attack and that they loved me."

"I see," Tobirama said. "Well, when you next see Saru, tell him that withholding information can be just as dangerous and damaging as releasing too much. Also show him this scroll and tell him that it is your heritage."

"I will Tobirama-ojisan," Naruto beamed, cradling the scroll like a mother would hold a newborn babe.

"Another thing Naruto-san, you mentioned the Kyubi attacking the village and that your parents died in the attack," Tobirama commented. "Tell me what you know about the attack?"

And Naruto did so, telling Tobirama about how his hero, the Yondaime Hokage, defeated and killed the Kyubi by using some ultra powerful jutsu. When Naruto finished the tale, he noticed the clone frowning at him.

"Naruto-san, I do not know why Saru has told you this fabrication," Tobirama said. "But the Kyubi is a Biju, a massive construct of pure chakra. It can not be killed by any means, only sealed away."

"Sealed away?" Naruto asked, a cold pit forming in his stomach.

"Yes, the Biju can be sealed away into objects or people."

"People?"

"Yes Naruto-san," Tobirama said. "When a Biju is sealed within a person, that person is considered a jinchuriki." A cold trickle dripped down the back of Naruto's neck at the word jinchuriki. "You, Naruto-san, are the jinchuriki of the Kyubi."

Silence fell upon the clearing like a blanket.

"I am the Kyubi?"

"No," Tobirama said sharply. "You are not the Kyubi, you are its prison! You are the one who contains the Kyubi, protecting the village from the Kyubi. I do not know why Saru has not told you of this, he will have his reasons but I am of the mind that one must have all the relevant facts to make the correct decision. Now, Naruto-san, my chakra has just about run out, I am sorry to be leaving you just after telling you this but that is life. Not everything will go your way; you must be able to persevere or you will be crushed. You are a descendant of the Nidaime Hokage, you will be fine. I believe in you Naruto-san, don't prove me wrong."

"Hai Tobirama-ojisan," Naruto said clearly. "I promise you that I will not let you down. I will become the pillar of strength for the village, and I will become Hokage just like you."

Tobirama nodded as a faint smile graced his stern features. "I am sure you will Naruto-san, goodbye."

"Goodbye Tobirama-ojisan," Naruto said softly as the clone dispelled itself, vanishing in a puff of smoke. Wiping his eyes, Naruto turned to pick up the scroll just as a new figure leapt down from the trees.

"There you are!" Iruka shouted, his **Big Head Jutsu** activating on instinct. "Do you have any idea what you've done Naruto? Do you know how much trouble you are going to be in?"

"Hello Iruka-sensei," Naruto said solemnly. The blonde's calm and respectful response drew Iruka short. "I'm sorry about this, I was told you Mizuki-sensei that if I snuck into jiji's office and stole this scroll and learned a jutsu from it, then he would pass me and I would become a real ninja."

Iruka gaped down at the blonde. '_Mizuki? What's going on?_' he thought.

"Ok Naruto, say I believe this, we need to get back to the village and explain everything to Hokage-sama," Iruka said.

"I know Iruka-sensei," Naruto said. "Lead the way."

"Sorry to break up this cozy scene, but you two aren't going anywhere," a mocking voice called down from the trees. Iruka and Naruto looked up to see Mizuki sneering down at them, a pair of fuma shuriken strapped to his back.

"Mizuki, what is going on?" Iruka asked.

"Well I was planning on there not being any witnesses to this but not everything can go as planned," Mizuki chuckled. "This way I can even pin another death on the demon, and I'll be treated as a hero when I kill it."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, playing up his idiocy even though his suspicions had just been confirmed, he had been set up.

"Naruto, do you know why everyone in the village hates you?" Mizuki laughed.

"Mizuki, no! You know it's forbidden!" Iruka cried.

"Why should I care?" Mizuki laughed, sending chills down Naruto's spine. "You two are going to die here and now." The crazed chunin reached back and unclipped one of the fuma shuriken hanging on his back. Naruto and Iruka tensed as Mizuki began spinning the large instrument of death with just one finger.

"Naruto, I'll hold him off," Iruka said. "You need to get that scroll back to the Hokage, you can't allow Mizuki to get it."

"Ah poor little Iruka is trying to protect the very monster that killed his parents," Mizuki mocked. "Tell me Iruka, why are you trying to protect the very thing that made you an orphan. The Kyubi killed your parents and now you are protecting it."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"Oh that's right, you still don't know, do you?" Mizuki laughed. "You are not Naruto Uzumaki. That is just some name that the Hokage gave you to try and fool the others, but I know the truth. You are the monster that attacked our home, killed our loved ones and nearly destroyed the village twelve years ago, you are the Kyubi no Yoko!"

Iruka turned slowly toward Naruto with a large amount of trepidation. Now Naruto knew, but the question was how would the boy handle it. "Naruto, you are not the Kyubi," Iruka said, looking at the frozen boy. "You are the prison for the demon. You are Naruto Uzumaki, the number one prankster of Konoha and one of my precious students."

"How touching," Mizuki sneered. "Enough talking, time to die demon!" Mizuki hurled the spinning fuma shuriken at the still unmoving Naruto. The spinning blades sliced through the stale air, gleaming in the bright moonlight.

"No Naruto!" Iruka cried, reaching out toward his student.

Naruto stumbled backward but tripped over a tree root falling to the ground as the fuma shuriken closed in. Mizuki's eyes gleamed with malice and glee as the whirling instrument of death neared its target.

"Gah!"

Naruto slowly opened his eyes as he felt something warm and wet drip onto his cheek. It was Iruka, crouching over Naruto. The blonde's eyes widened when he spotted the large shuriken sticking out of Iruka's back. Blood was trickling down Iruka's chin and several drops had landed on Naruto's face.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto gasped as he took in the pain-twisted grimace of his sensei. "Why?"

"Because you are just like me Naruto," Iruka said, his voice rough with pain and several more flecks of blood from Iruka's mouth, landing on Naruto's jumpsuit. "After my parents were killed, all I wanted was for someone to look at me, to pay me any attention. I was a troublemaker and prankster, always trying to find a way for people to just look at me. I am sorry that you had to suffer the pain of loneliness when I knew what you were going through. I was not strong enough to help you and I am sorry."

Naruto starred up at his sensei as the wounded man poured out his soul to the blonde. Naruto was about to say it was okay when a cruel laugh cut him off.

"How pathetic!" Mizuki howled. "You are really trying to comfort the demon, the very monster that killed your parents. Well, you'll soon be joining them Iruka. I wonder what they'll say when they learn that you were protecting the demon that killed them."

Iruka winced as another stab of pain crashed through his body. He looked down at Naruto to apologize once more, for not treating him correctly and for not protecting him. But those words died in his throat at the sight of cold and steely blue eyes looking over his shoulder. He had never seen Naruto look so angry; normally the boy would shout and rage till his face turned blue. This anger was focused and wound so tightly that it sent chills down the chunin's spine that had nothing to do with the large shuriken in his flesh.

"You will not harm my sensei!" Naruto snarled, pulling himself to his feet from underneath Iruka. "You are a traitor to the village and you will face the penalty for doing so."

"And who is going to stop me?" Mizuki laughed. "You?"

"I will do my duty," Naruto said. "Even if it costs me my life, you will not leave here alive. **Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!**"

Mizuki's laughter died as an explosion of smoke filled the clearing. When the smoke cleared, it was a sea of orange and yellow. Mizuki felt a cold bead of sweat trickledown his spine at the innumerable cold blue eyes glaring at him from all angles.

"How is this possible? You are just a talentless orphan, how can you create this many clones?" Mizuki shouted.

"Because I am Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said. "Get him."

The clones gave a nearly deafening roar and surged toward a frozen Mizuki. Naruto watched with emotionless eyes as the horde of his clones descended from the trees and pounded Mizuki into a bloody pulp.

"Naruto, you really did learn a jutsu," Iruka coughed.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto cried. The clones that Naruto summoned vanished in puffs and the original raced over to the injured Academy teacher.

"Hey Naruto," Iruka said with a slight wince. "You were amazing, I've never seen anyone create so many clones before, let alone **Shadow Clones**."

Naruto's face lit up at Iruka's praise. "Well, I might have over done it though," Naruto admitted, rubbing the back of his head."

"Don't worry about him," Iruka growled. "Like you said, he is a traitor and doesn't deserve our thoughts. Now I want you to close your eyes, I have something to give you."

"You're not going to kiss me or something are you sensei?" Naruto asked.

"No you little brat!" Iruka shouted, his **Big Head Jutsu** activating on reflex. "Just close your eyes."

Naruto gave Iruka a piercing look; it made the scarred Chunin feel like the Hokage was examining him. But the blonde then nodded and closed his eyes.

"Ok Naruto, go ahead and open your eyes," Iruka told Naruto.

The blonde slowly opened his eyes and saw his instructor sitting in front of him, a pained smile on the man's face. Then Naruto felt something on his forehead, he reached up and felt his hand bump into a hard metal plate.

"What the?"

"Congratulations Naruto, you graduate!" Iruka said brightly. The scarred Chunin cried out in pain as Naruto threw himself at Iruka but the Academy teacher looked down at the blonde with a fond smile.

A soft cough brought the bonding moment to a quick end. Iruka looked up to see a squad of masked ANBU standing above them in the trees.

"Iruka-san, are you injured?" the dog faced ANBU asked.

"Inu-san!" Naruto cried. "Iruka-sensei is hurt really badly, we've got to get him…"

"It's ok Naruto," Iruka calmed the frantic blonde. "It's not that bad." Though Iruka's reassurance was lost as he coughed up some more blood.

"Neko, take Iruka to the hospital," Inu ordered. "Tori, Gama, secure the traitor and I will escort Uzumaki-san to the Hokage to report on what has happened."

The other three ANBU nodded and leapt down from the trees to go about their orders. Naruto jumped slightly as Inu appeared beside him.

"Come along Uzumaki-san," Inu said. "The Hokage is waiting."

Naruto nodded, tightening his grip on the large scroll as Inu put hand on the boy's shoulder. The blonde looked over at Iruka who was being given first aid treatment by Neko. "Bye Iruka-sensei."

"I will see you later Naruto," Iruka grinned, though his face twitched as he felt his skin being stitched back together. "Don't worry about the Hokage, just tell him the truth and you will be fine."

Naruto only had time to nod before the forest vanished.

"Whoa," Naruto gasped at the interior of the Hokage's office came into view. "What was that? Can you teach me?"

"Perhaps another time Naruto," an amused voice said from behind a large desk. It was the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Hey jiji," Naruto said sheepishly. "I guess I have some explaining to do?"

"Yes you do Naruto-kun," the Hokage said. "That will be all Inu-san, you are dismissed."

"Hokage-sama," Inu said before fading into the shadows.

"So Naruto-kun, care to explain why you snuck into my office and stole a very important scroll?" Hiruzen asked.

"After I failed the graduation exam, Mizuki-sen…I mean Mizuki approached me, saying that I could still graduate if I completed a make-up exam," Naruto explained. "He said I had to sneak into your office, steal the scroll and learn a jutsu from it, and if I did all that without being caught, I would pass and be able to become a ninja."

Hiruzen set his fingers in front of his face, looking down at the blonde boy in front of him. "I see," he said. "And did you succeed?"

"Yes!" Naruto said. "But it was weird, I accidently cut myself on the scroll and some of my blood got on the scroll and then the weirdest thing happened."

"What happened Naruto-kun?"

"This guy appeared from inside the scroll," Naruto said. "He said he was the Nidaime Hokage."

"What?" Hiruzen gasped.

"I know," Naruto agreed. "But he said he was a **Shadow Clone**, he even taught me the jutsu, watch! **Shadow Clone Jutsu**!"

Hiruzen was stunned as three solid copies of Naruto appeared in the office. "Very well done Naruto-kun, you successfully learned a B-rank kinjutsu in just one night," the Hokage said. "There are not many people who can even claim such a feat."

Naruto beamed at the praise from the Hokage and his grandfather figure. "Thanks jiji," he said. "Oh and Tobirama-ojisan said to tell you that withholding information can be just as dangerous as releasing too much. He also said that we were related somehow, since the only people who could open the scroll was someone with his blood."

Hiruzen fell back into his chair in disbelief. "Are you sure Naruto-kun?" he asked. "I am not doubting you but I need to be sure."

"I'm sure jiji," Naruto said looking Hiruzen straight in the eye. "He told me that the only way that the scroll would open is if the blood was of his line, whatever that means. Is it true, am I related to the Nidaime Hokage?"

Hiruzen sighed heavily. "I have no idea," he admitted. "As far as I knew, my sensei did not have a family aside from his brother's family. But I also will say that Tobirama-sensei was a very secretive person, so it is certainly possible. The fact that your blood opened the scroll lends credence to the theory that you are related to him."

"But the Nidaime Hokage died a long, long time ago, right?" Naruto said. "There is no way that he could be my dad right? So what is he to me? Is he my dad's dad or what?"

"I can't tell you for certain," Hiruzen said. "Like I told you Naruto, Tobirama-sensei was very secretive and I did not know if he had a lover or wife. And no, there is no way that the Nidaime Hokage could be your father. I knew your parents very well and…"

"You knew my parents! Who were they jiji? Please, you have to tell me?" Naruto cried. Tears began pouring down his cheeks. Hiruzen felt his heart clench at the sight of his surrogate grandson's face.

"Naruto, your parents were very strong ninja and during their lives they gained many enemies," Hiruzen said. "Enemies who would have no qualms about taking revenge by killing you. I promise that I will tell you about your parents when I feel you are strong enough to defend yourself. And that is my final word on the matter."

"Very well Hokage-sama," Naruto answered curtly. "Is that everything?"

"Yes Naruto-kun," Hiruzen said, masking the hurt he felt from Naruto's use of his title. "If you would just return the scroll…"

"I am afraid I can't do that Hokage-sama," Naruto said. "As this scroll is my family's property, I will be taking possession of it."

"I can not let you do that Naruto-kun," Hiruzen said. "That scroll is much too valuable to be in an unsupervised environment."

"There isn't anything you can do about this Hokage-sama," Naruto retorted. "The Clan Charter, set down by the Shodaime Hokage, means you can not confiscate any scrolls that belong to an active clan as long as the head of the Clan is an active shinobi."

"An active Clan also means a clan that has at least a dozen members in it," Hiruzen argued.

"Then release the Uchiha jutsu scrolls," Naruto fired back. "There are only two members of that clan alive, including Itachi. So don't try and pull that card."

"Naruto, you are too young…"

"Like I was too young to know that the Yondaime sealed the Kyubi in me," Naruto snapped, his eyes growing stormy. "Why didn't you tell me? You knew why people kept looking at me with such hate and coldness but you never did anything about it."

Hiruzen felt every one of his advanced years weighing down on him, Naruto's words struck deeper and more painful than any kunai. "I am sorry Naruto-kun, but I didn't not wish for you to find out like this. I couldn't tell you before because I wasn't sure you would be able to handle the truth."

"You didn't trust me," Naruto accused. Hiruzen winced sharply. "I asked you how many times if you knew why they all glared at me and every time you would tell me to ignore it or blow the question off. Were you ever going to tell me?"

"Yes Naruto-kun but I needed to make sure that you understood the burden that you bore," Hiruzen tried to explain.

"How many people know?" Naruto asked. "How many people know that the fox is sealed in me?"

"The generation above yours," Hiruzen admitted. "I made it a law not to revel your status to anyone that was not already in the know. I had hoped to keep it a tighter secret but that was a fool's thought. I also hoped that you would be able to find friends in your classmates, as they wouldn't know."

"Well that failed miserably," Naruto sneered.

Hiruzen hung his head. "Yes, and I am so sorry about that Naruto-kun," he said.

"You can start making it up to me by letting me keep this scroll," Naruto said. "As far as anyone knows, I am the only one who can open it, so it is my property. I promise that I will not let anyone know that I have it but please jiji, let me have this one piece of my family."

Hiruzen schooled his features as he starred his surrogate grandson in the eye. Naruto's blue eyes were hard and determined; the boy was not going to give this up, reminding the aged Hokage of another Uzumaki.

"All right Naruto-kun, I will let you keep the scroll," Hiruzen said. "On one condition."

"Yes Hokage-sama?"

"Tomorrow after you have your team meeting, I would like you to come to my office so we can examine the scroll," Hiruzen said. "I want to give you some advice, I don't want you to get in over your head in learning my sensei's jutsus."

Naruto closed his mouth and thought about the Hokage's offer, he knew that he was pushing his luck with the Clan Charter card; the Hokage could take possession of the scroll mainly because no one would believe Naruto could ever be the descendent of the Nidaime Hokage. If Naruto tried to fight and the situation was brought before the Village Council, Naruto would be laughed out of the chamber, he had no allies among the Council.

"Very well Hokage-sama, I will agree to this condition," Naruto said. "But I want reasons from you if I am limited in what I can learn, actual reasons, not just that I am too young. Once I accepted this headband, I ceased being a child."

"All right Uzumaki-san," Hiruzen said. "I will also accept your terms and will see you tomorrow. Dismissed."

"Yes Hokage-sama," Naruto saluted before securing the scroll and leaving the Hokage's office, leaving the elder Hokage hoping that he had made the correct decision.

**A/N 2: Well there you have it, the first chapter of my newest project '_Bloodlines'. _I hope that you all enjoyed this start and will let me know by leaving a review. These first couple chapters will be pretty basic, one of the things I didn't like after finishing '_Underneath the Underneath_' was the fluctuation of Naruto's skill level, it wasn't very realistic. I will try and make sure that mistake doesn't happen in this story. Also the timeline might be stretched a bit as we never really get a concrete timeline throughout the entire series except for the 2+ years that Naruto spends training with Jiraiya. Anyway, til next time,**

**SlytherinKnight**


	2. Teammates not Friends

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own _Naruto_, if I did then Kishi wouldn't have gone to the JK Rowling school of crappy epilogues. But I'll get to that at the end of the chapter. But to reiterate I do NOT own _Naruto_. **

Bleary blue eyes slowly opened as sunlight streamed through tattered curtains. Rubbing his eyes, Naruto sat up on his thin mattress and took in his bedroom. Pale yellow walls starred blankly back at the young Uzumaki; there were no photos or pictures hanging from the bare walls. It was a very sobering sight.

Naruto hissed as he swung his legs off the bed and stood up, the cold wood floor waking the blonde up far faster than anything else. As Naruto made his way toward the bathroom, he noticed a large scroll standing in the corner of the bedroom with a Konoha headband sitting on top of it. And the memories from the previous night came storming back to Naruto and a wide smile broke out across the blonde's face. He had graduated, finally graduated from the Academy.

That wide smile turned somber as more details from the previous night came back to Naruto. The fact that he was related to both the Nidaime Hokage, and through him the Shodaime Hokage but also that sealed within him was the Kyubi, the demon that had attacked the village twelve years ago and caused an immense amount of destruction that Konoha was still trying to recover from.

A frown creased Naruto's face as he remembered the conversation that he had with the Sandaime Hokage, about the old man had kept the knowledge of him holding the Kyubi from him in the hopes of letting Naruto have a normal childhood. Naruto snorted at the man's naiveté, it was obvious that the vast majority of the villagers knew what he housed and treated him with fear and disgust.

After washing up and eating a quick breakfast, Naruto locked up his apartment, straightened his headband and made his way off toward the Academy, his mind thinking ahead to his team placement. Most villagers and shinobi thought that Naruto was a complete idiot, with a large mouth and no skills to back it up, and while that was somewhat true, Naruto realized that he had not done himself any favors by goofing off and not paying attention in class. As a genin, Naruto knew that it was on him to improve himself, no one would help him, he had been alone all his life and had grown to rely only on himself.

The words of the Nidaime Hokage rang in his head, "To be a ninja, you must be the pillar of strength for the village, to shoulder the burdens that others can not."

Naruto schooled his features as he approached the Academy building. This was it, Naruto thought; he was about to take the next step on his journey to become Hokage.

"Naruto! What are you doing here, team placements are only for people who passed," the rough and grating voice of Kiba Inuzaka sneered.

Naruto just pointed at his forehead. "I passed," the blonde said.

"How?" Kiba growled.

"If I tell you, I'd have to kill you," Naruto snarked. He really enjoyed riling up the feral boy. "Real secret stuff, the Hokage has to read you in if he thinks you are worthy."

"What?" Kiba shouted. "You're lying!"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," Naruto grinned. "But you'll have to take your question to the Hokage if you want an answer."

Kiba opened his mouth to continue the argument but was stopped by Shino Aburame. "Kiba, do not speak," Shino said. "If the Hokage has deemed Naruto worthy of graduating, who are you to say otherwise?"

Kiba huffed and shrugged Shino's hand from his shoulder. "Fine," he grumbled. "But don't think that just because you graduated means that you are a better ninja than me, you are still the dead last."

Naruto grit his teeth but didn't respond to the boy's jib. He found a seat closest to the window and in the back row, not noticing a pair of pale eyes watching his every movement. Naruto laid his head down on the desk to catch up on some more sleep while waiting for the rest of the class to appear.

"Team 7 will be Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha…" an ear piercing squeal jolted Naruto out of his dozing with the subtlety of a pack of exploding tags.

"What the hell?" he grumbled sitting up. Blinking his eyes rapidly to clear them, Naruto noticed the rest of the class staring at him.

"Ah Naruto, good to see you decided to join us," Iruka said from the front of the room, an amused smile on his face. "Now as I was saying, Team 7 will be Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki."

"What!" Sakura cried, jumping to her feet and pointing at Naruto. "Iruka-sensei, why do Sasuke-kun and I have to be saddled with Naruto?"

"Because Sakura, the Hokage has selected these teams," Iruka said, frowning at the pink haired child. "Now if you think you know better than the Hokage, please speak up."

Sakura quietly sat down, somewhat trembling from the stern glare that Iruka had pinned her with.

Naruto felt a twinge of pain in his chest at his crush's adamant refusal to work with him, but he filed it away.

Iruka finished reading off the team rosters and looked up at his now-former students. "Your jonin-senseis will be here shortly to pick you up," he told them. "Now don't think that just because you have graduated means you can take it easy. You are now ninja of this village, and that means you will all now have a new sort of responsibilities. You are the future of our village; good luck and always remember to carry the Will of Fire wherever your journey may take you. It has been an honor and an adventure teaching you all."

Naruto watched as Iruka looked each of the graduates in the eye before leaving the classroom. As soon as the door closed, the chatter in the classroom rose. Naruto looked down and saw the Rookie of the Year, Sasuke Uchiha, staring back up at him with a mix of confusion and superiority.

"What are you looking at teme?" Naruto asked sharply.

Sasuke grunted. "Just wondering who you had to suck off to get that headband," the Uchiha sneered.

"What did you say?" Naruto snarled, his anger flaring.

"It's the only way an idiot like you could ever graduate," Sasuke grinned darkly. The room around the two boys had gone silent, with several of the students rapidly switching their attentions back and forth between Sasuke and Naruto.

"Listen here Uchiha," Naruto growled. "I don't honestly care what you think how I graduated. I know how it happened, so does the Hokage and the people who need to know."

Sasuke's face twitched at Naruto's response, and the blonde grinned.

"That's what has got your panties in a twist," Naruto chuckled. "It's not that I graduated but that you don't know how I did. In the Academy, you were the big fish, the one who had all the answers but now you are nothing more than just another genin, and that pisses you off, doesn't it teme?"

Sasuke's face tightened as Naruto's jib struck true. He spun back to face the front of the classroom again.

"Naruto! Don't you talk to Sasuke-kun like that!" Sakura shouted.

Naruto closed his eyes and looked back out the window, ignoring the pang in his chest at Sakura's defense of Sasuke.

Soon two jonin had arrived to pick up Teams 8 and 10. Naruto recognized Team 10's sensei, Asuma Sarutobi, from the picture on the Hokage's desk but he didn't recognize the beautiful dark-haired woman who picked up Team 8. That left only Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto in the classroom.

"Ugh! Where is our sensei?" Sakura growled an hour after the other two teams had been picked up.

Naruto restrained himself from making a similar comment, knowing that Sakura would just shout at him but he did agree with her. This was no use of his time, he would much rather be reading more of Tobirama-ojisan's scroll. If only he could be in two places at…the sound of Naruto's head slamming into the desk snapped Sasuke's and Sakura's heads around to look at him.

"What the hell Naruto?" Sakura shouted.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Naruto said getting to his feet. "I'll be back in a bit."

"What if our sensei comes by while you are gone?" Sakura asked.

"Well, then they can wait," Naruto said. He walked out, ignoring the shout from his female teammate and turned down the hallway toward the bathroom. He entered the bathroom and with a quick hand sign, a second Naruto appeared in a puff of smoke.

"All right, you go back to the classroom to wait with teme and Sakura-chan," Naruto told his clone. "I'll go back to my apartment and start reading grandpa's scroll."

"What if Sakura-chan is right and sensei does show up? Shouldn't you boss be there, I can go back and read the scroll," the clone said. "Who knows what our sensei will want to do when they get here, it would be smarter to have you stay here to be safe."

"You just don't want to be in the same room as the teme," Naruto argued.

"Neither do you," the clone fired back. "Look my idea is the smartest, you still get to read grandpa's scroll and still meet our sensei."

"Fine," Naruto muttered. "I can't believe I got outsmarted by my own clone," he grumbled as he left the bathroom and headed back to the classroom.

"What happened dobe, did you fall in?" Sasuke snarked.

Naruto breathed out sharply through his nose as he let the comment wash over him. He sat down in the same seat as before and looked out the window.

It was another two hours before Naruto jerked awake as the classroom's sliding door opened to revel a tall jonin with gravity defying silver hair. The only visible part of the man's face was his right eye, a mask covered the lower half of his face and he had his Konoha headband angled to cover his left eye.

"You're Team 7 then?" the man said. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke nodded. "Right then, my first impression of you all is…you are all boring as hell." The three genin stared at the man. "Anyway, meet me on the roof in five minutes or all three of you will be sent back to the Academy." The man vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura watched as the smoke faded away before the three scrambled to their feet and raced out of the classroom.

Naruto followed Sasuke and Sakura out of the classroom when he felt a tingle in the back of his head. He got the images of his apartment, picking up the scroll and realizing that he needed blood to open the scroll.

'_Wait, how do I know that I couldn't open the scroll?_' Naruto thought. '_I sent my clone to read it. Do I learn what the clones do?_'

"Hurry up Naruto!" Sakura shouted, noticing that the blonde had fallen behind. "You better not get me and Sasuke-kun sent back to the Academy because you forgot where the roof was."

Naruto shook his head and followed Sasuke and Sakura up the back stairs of the Academy and out onto the roof. There the three ninja saw their tardy sensei, leaning against the railing with an orange book covering his already hidden face.

"So you all made it, good," the man said. "Now take a seat and we can get started." Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura scrambled to take seats in front of the jonin. "Now, why don't we all introduce ourselves?"

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, that sort of stuff," the man said without looking up from his book.

"Well, we've all been in the Academy for years together now," Naruto said. "But we don't know you sensei, so why don't you go first?"

"Fine then," the man said, closing his book with a snap. "My name is Kakashi Hatake, my likes are…(perverse giggle), well, you might be a little too young to know. My dislikes are…(shrug) and I don't really have a dream."

'_So all we learned is that he's a pervert named Kakashi,_' was the same thought rushing through Sakura's, Sasuke's and Naruto's heads.

"Your turn blondie," Kakashi said.

"Right, I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said. "My likes are ramen, training and new jutsus. My dislikes are the three minutes I have to wait to cook ramen, traitors and those who threaten my home. And my dream is to become the strongest pillar of the village, and become the Hokage. Hobbies are, probably pranks, I guess."

Sakura and Sasuke just rolled their eyes at Naruto's declaration but unbeknownst to all three genin, Kakashi was quite impressed at the blonde's answer. '_He's certainly grown in an interesting way,_' the jonin thought.

"You pinky?"

"My name is Sakura Haruno, not pinky," Sakura growled. "My likes are…(blushes) and reading I suppose. My dislikes are people who make fun of my forehead, Ino-pig and Naruto. And my dream is…(perverse giggle)."

Naruto's head dropped when he heard Sakura announce to the world that he was one of her dislikes, another thing that Kakashi didn't miss. '_I guess girls her age are more interested in love than being a shinobi,_' he thought.

"All right, what about you broody?"

"Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke grunted. "I don't have any likes, I have many dislikes and I don't have a dream but an ambition that I will accomplish by killing a certain man, and then restarting my clan."

Naruto saw Kakashi lower his book fractionally to observe Sasuke, before snapping it shut.

"Right then, now that we've gotten that out of the way," Kakashi said. "I guess the only thing I have to do now is tell you about your genin test."

"Genin test, but sensei aren't we already genin?" Sakura asked.

"Nope," Kakashi chirped. "Passing the Academy is only to weed out those who didn't have the potential to become shinobi. Now you have to prove yourselves to me. And let me tell you, only 9 members of your class will pass. The rest will be sent back to the Academy, or dropped from the program entirely. So, I will see you all tomorrow morning at Training Ground 3 at 6am. Oh, and I wouldn't bother eating breakfast, you'll probably just throw it. Later."

Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the three stunned and slightly scared (though one would never admit it) prospective genin.

Naruto turned to Sasuke and Sakura. "If we are going to be a team, do you two want to get something to eat? You know, get to know more about each other?"

Sasuke snorted. "I already know all about you dobe, you are weak," he snapped. "Both of you," he added when the Uchiha saw that Sakura was going to agree with him. "If either of you hold me back from achieving my ambition, I will show you the difference in our strength."

Naruto growled lowly in his throat, his anger spiking dangerously. Sakura's face fell at Sasuke's dismissal of her strength.

"Look Sasuke," Naruto spat. "You might be the Rookie of the Year, but we aren't in the Academy anymore so class standings means shit now. We are all genin; the same rank now, so you better lose the arrogant 'I'm so much better than you' attitude before someone stronger comes along and shoves their boot up your ass. Now, if neither of you want to go eat with me fine, then I'll go by myself. Then I'm going to go train and be ready for whatever Kakashi-sensei wants to throw at us."

The blonde leapt off the Academy roof without another word, leaving Sakura and Sasuke speechless at their blonde teammate. Sakura looked at her crush and was stunned to see a reddish tinge coming to Sasuke's face. She could feel the anger rolling off Sasuke in waves.

Meanwhile in a nearby tree, a certain silver-haired cycloptic jonin had been watching the festivities with an amused eye. '_Well said Naruto,_' Kakashi thought. '_Someone needed to remind Sasuke that he isn't the big fish any longer, he's just another minnow in a massive ocean now. Let's see how he reacts tomorrow._'

* * *

><p>The sun crested over the Hokage monument and illuminated the Village Hidden in the Leaves in soft, warm, yellow light. All in all, it was a picture perfect early summer morning.<p>

"Where the hell is our sensei?" a loud voice shattered the early morning silence like an air raid siren.

The scene shifted to a nearby training ground where three young ninja were awaiting the arrival of their sensei to being their careers as shinobi of the Hidden Leaf.

"He told us to be here at 6am and now it's nearly eight, and he's not here," the blonde boy shouted.

"Naruto, shut up!" a pink haired girl screamed, just as loudly. "Shouting like an idiot is not going to change anything. Right Sasuke-kun?" she asked the black haired boy who was leaning against one of three posts, scowling.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted.

"See Naruto, Sasuke-kun agrees with me," Sakura beamed.

Naruto just ignored the pair. '_Damn you Kakashi, I could be home sleeping or reading grandpa's scroll,_' he fumed. '_I only had time to learn more about the _**Shadow Clone Jutsu** _before I went to bed to make sure I got enough sleep._'

While reading about the **Shadow Clone Jutsu**, Naruto's suspicions were confirmed when he learned that the memories of his clones were transferred back to the original. Tobirama, the creator of the technique, had used the jutsu as a scouting technique, a way to infiltrate an enemies' stronghold, gain accurate intel with very little risk. Tobirama also wrote that the clones were a useful training tool, as while they did not pass on physical results, anything the clones learned, once dispelled the original would learn, though Tobirama did comment that if one tried to learn more than two or three things at the same time, or dispel too many clones at the same time, the creator would suffer from deliberating headaches until the mind sorted through the information, if it did at all.

The main note that caught Naruto's attention was that the clones could transfer knowledge of jutsus, somewhat like the Uchiha clan's **Sharingan**. If a clone tried to use a jutsu, then once dispelled, the original would learn how to mold their chakra to perform the jutsu. Of course the original need to know the correct way of molding the chakra or they could fall prey to doing it incorrectly, which could have disastrous results.

"Hello there my cute little potential genin," an amused and cheerful voice said. In a puff of smoke, Kakashi appeared in front of Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto.

"You're late!" Sakura screamed.

"Where the hell have you been?" Naruto shouted.

"Well, you see there was this black cat that crossed my path, so I had to take the long way," Kakashi explained. "But then my path went under a ladder and I had to…

"Lair!" Naruto and Sakura cried.

"Fine," Kakashi sighed. "Now that we are all here, we can get this show on the road." He pulled out a small clock from his pouch and set it on one of the training posts. "Now, your objective is to get these two bells from me by noon. You can use any means at your disposal, in fact you better come at me with the intent to kill, or you will surely fail. And if, at the end of the test, any of you don't have a bell, you automatically fail and will be sent back to the Academy."

"But wait sensei, there are only two bells?" Sakura pointed out. "If there are only two bells, that means…"

"That one of you will be sent back to the Academy regardless, yep that's right," Kakashi chirped. "So are you three ready?" The three genin nodded. "Then begin!"

The three genin vanished into the nearby forest, leaving Kakashi standing in the middle of the training ground alone.

'_Well, at least they know how to hide themselves well enough,_' Kakashi thought. '_Then again,_' he amended, turning around to face Naruto. The blonde was glaring at Kakashi, arms crossed.

"You know, you are a bit different than the others," Kakashi commented.

"I've waited long enough," Naruto said. "You made us wait, I'm done waiting. So I'm coming after you!"

"It's said that those who bark the loudest are the dumbest."

Naruto grit his teeth, the lesson that Tobirama-ojisan told him echoed through his head. 'Emotions do not control a shinobi, a shinobi controls his emotions.' He took a deep breath and released it through his nose, calming his surging blood.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Naruto cried, his fingers in a familiar cross seal.

Kakashi's eyes widened as a dozen clones appeared around Naruto. With a cry, the clones charged toward Kakashi. The jonin grinned behind his mask as he fell back under the badly choreographed onslaught. '_His taijutsu could certainly use some work,_' Kakashi thought as he ducked under a spinning kick.

"Where'd he go?" Naruto asked aloud as Kakashi vanished in a burst of speed.

"You shouldn't let your opponent get behind you," an amused voice said. Naruto looked over his shoulder to see Kakashi crouching behind him, his fingers in a Tiger seal.

"**Konoha Hidden Jutsu: Thousand Years of Pain!**" Kakashi shouted before giving Naruto a chakra-charged ass poke that sent the blonde screaming, before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'_A clone eh, not bad Naruto,_' Kakashi thought pulling his copy of Icha Icha from his pouch. '_Now then, where are the other two?_'

'_Damn you pervert sensei,_' Naruto scowled as he watched Kakashi from a treetop. The memories of the clone that had been dispelled by the jonin caused him to rub his backside in phantom pain.

'_This test is so stupid,_' Naruto growled. '_Why would Kakashi taunt us with an impossible objective! He's a jonin for Kami's sake! Three genin can't take on a jonin, sure I beat Mizuki but he was just a chunin and I got lucky that he underestimated me. And anyway, I've only seen genin teams with three genin…_'

A light bulb went off above Naruto's head, causing him to smack his face with his hand. "I got to find Sakura-chan and Sasuke," Naruto said to himself as the blonde leapt off from the branch.

'_What do you have in mind Naruto?_' Kakashi thought, reveling that the jonin had been hiding in the shadows beneath the branch that Naruto had been standing on.

"What do we have here?" Naruto snickered as he landed on the forest floor next to a peculiar sight; one Sasuke Uchiha stuck up to his neck in dirt. "What happened to you teme?"

"Never mind that dobe, just get me out of here," Sasuke growled, struggling to free himself.

"I will but you need to listen to what I have to say first, all right?" Naruto said, crouching down next to Sasuke. "I can just walk away and leave you, or I can find Sakura-chan and have her…" the blonde trailed off. Sasuke paled as he thought of what the pink haired fan girl would do if she saw him like this.

Sasuke glared up at the blonde, vowing that once he got free he would pound the blonde into the ground. "Fine," he spat.

Naruto grinned. "Look Sasuke, neither one of us like each other very much," Naruto admitted. "I think you are a stuck up ass who believes he's better than everyone. Now in the Academy you were the best…"

"Did that hurt?" Sasuke snarked.

Naruto just rolled his eyes. "But like I said yesterday, you are no longer the strongest," he said. Sasuke looked away. "You might not want to believe it but its true, do you really think you are stronger than Kakashi?"

"No," Sasuke admitted.

Naruto refrained from echoing Sasuke's previous jab. "None of us have any chance of laying a finger on Kakashi by ourselves but if we work together then maybe we can get those bells."

"You want to work with me?" Sasuke asked, his surprise overriding his sense of superiority.

"I want to pass," Naruto said. "I want to become a ninja, just like you. And if that means working with you, fine then."

"What about Sakura? Would we work with her?"

"Three is better than two," Naruto said. "And while she isn't very physically strong, Sakura is smarter than both of us, and you know it."

Sasuke grunted. He didn't want to admit it, especially out loud but Naruto was right. Sakura was the smartest of the three.

"And besides, have you ever heard of a two man genin team?" Naruto commented. "I know you've gone around and seen older teams train, looking for tips, and they are always in groups of four; three genin and a jonin."

"What if you are wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"Then I'll take the fall and go back to the Academy," Naruto said. "But I'm not wrong and you know it."

"So how do we get Haruno to work with us?" Sasuke asked. Naruto grinned, knowing that he had won.

"Simple, you say its your plan and she'll fall over herself to please her 'Sasuke-kun'," Naruto said.

Sasuke shivered. "Fine, now get me the hell out of here," Sasuke said.

Naruto made a pair of clones and the three quickly dug Sasuke free. Suddenly a high-pitched scream tore through the forest causing Sasuke and Naruto to whip their heads around.

"Come on," Naruto said, leaping off toward the scream.

"Don't order me around dobe!" Sasuke shouted, jumping after the blonde anyway.

"What's wrong with her?" a familiar and loud voice asked.

"Dobe, Kakashi obviously put her in a genjutsu," another voice, this one curt and cold, said.

Emerald green eyes fluttered open to see two faces looking down at her. One face was topped with golden blonde hair and had bright blue eyes; the other was framed by dark blue hair and had coal black eyes that seemed to pierce through her.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried, shooting into a seated position and throwing her arms around Sasuke's neck.

"Get off," Sasuke grunted, quickly extricating himself from Sakura's grasp. "Look Haruno, we need your help."

"We?" she asked. "What is Naruto doing here?"

"He helped me out of a tight spot," Sasuke said, spitting out the words. Naruto hid a grin at Sasuke's confession. "Kakashi is too strong for me, so I need yours and Naruto's help to get those bells."

"But Sasuke-kun, why do we need Naruto?" Sakura asked. "Surely he can't help all that much, you are the Rookie of the Year and he's just the dead last."

"Perhaps," Sasuke agreed. "But three is better than two. So can I count on your help?"

"Of course Sasuke-kun, you can count on me," Sakura said with stars in her eyes.

"Good, now here's the plan," Sasuke said, hiding the shudder that came from Sakura's adoring look.

'_Not much time left for those three,_' Kakashi thought as he stood in the middle of the training ground with his book out. '_Maybe I thought too highly of them. They haven't shown anything close to being worthy of being shinobi._'

The rustling of leaves caught Kakashi's attention. The jonin turned as a mass of orange clad clones came surging out of the underbrush. Kakashi sighed and turned to face the oncoming army of **Shadow Clones**. Suddenly Kakashi leapt upward as his finely tuned danger sense warned him of approaching danger. Just in time as a roaring fireball sped through the space that Kakashi had just occupied.

'_What's this?_' Kakashi thought. '_Naruto can't perform that jutsu, that was…_' Twisting in mid-air, Kakashi avoided a brace of shuriken, catching two of them with his free hand.

Landing, Kakashi substituted with a nearby log as he had landed on a pressure trap that sent another group of shuriken came speeding toward him.

'_That's right, Sakura was first in trap making in the Academy,_' Kakashi grinned beneath his mask. '_Maybe I was wrong._'

The army of blondes reached Kakashi and began swinging wildly, with both arms and legs. '_His taijutsu is atrocious,_' Kakashi thought, easily cutting his way through the mass of clones. '_Did he even pay attention in the Academy?_'

A blur of black and blue caught Kakashi's attention as Sasuke came racing toward him and the mass of Narutos. The clones dispelled themselves, covering much of the area in smoke. Kakashi channeled chakra to his legs and leapt into the air. And just in time as another string of shuriken came speeding through the smoke.

As Kakashi landed he sensed that he was surrounded once more. He readied himself to use the **Substitution Jutsu** once again when a bell rang out through the training ground.

"Damnit!" Naruto cursed.

"Oh that's too bad," Kakashi chuckled as he walked toward the three genin. Inwardly the jonin was praising the three young ninja. "Well, none of you have a bell, so that means I'm going to have to…pass you!"

"What!" the three genin cried.

"But we didn't get the bells sensei?" Sakura asked.

"True but the objective of this training wasn't really to get the bells," Kakashi told them. "I've been a ninja much longer than you three have been alive, did you really think you could get them? I wanted to see how you all would do when faced with an impossible obstacle. You all have to realize that you are much stronger together than by yourselves. There is a reason why Konoha is considered the strongest village, it is because we know the value of working together."

"But why then only two bells?" Naruto asked.

"I couldn't just tell you what the real reason was now, could I?" Kakashi chuckled. "You had to figure it out for yourselves or the lesson would have no meaning."

"So we passed? We're real ninja now?" Naruto asked.

"Yep," Kakashi chirped. "You are now officially Team 7 of Konoha, but always remember those who abandon the mission are trash but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash. Now be here tomorrow at 8am for our first day of training. Later!"

The jonin vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the three genin standing in the middle of the training ground stunned.

"All right! We did it, we passed!" Naruto shouted, jumping for joy. Sakura smile at the blonde's exuberance while Sasuke had a small smirk. "So now what do you guys want to do?" he asked his two teammates.

"Don't think this has changed anything dobe," Sasuke said. "We might be teammates but that doesn't mean we are friends. I'm going to train."

Naruto sighed as Sasuke marched off, Sakura trailing after him like a puppy. '_Well at least now I can read grandpa's scroll some more,_' Naruto thought.

In the shadows of the trees, Kakashi watched as the blonde made his way off the training ground. '_This might be more difficult than I thought,_' he mused. '_But where would the fun be if it was easy?_'

**A/N: Well there you have it, the second chapter of this story, hope you all liked it. It was fun to write and to come up with some hopefully subtle hints into the changes in our favorite blonde hero. Let me know how you all think about the chapter, also I've been having some second thoughts about the title and so I am going to be posting a poll on my profile with a couple of options for the title, please vote on what you think. There will be a 'Other' option, if you choose that one, just drop me a suggestion on what you think the title should be in either a review or PM. **

**A/N pt 2: Now onto my thoughts about the end of an era. As we all know, Naruto has finished its 15 year run and what a run it has been. Roughly 700 chapters of manga, probably around 500 episodes of anime and 10 movies but to me, the final chapter really didn't wrap things up for me. Yeah, we all knew that Naruto would become Hokage eventually but the use of confusing placing of real world technology (laptop computers, skyscrapers, etc.) just was weird. But no one really cares about that, we all cared about the final pairings, and it looks like it ended up being NaruHina and SasuSaku, which probably wasn't a huge surprise to a lot of us. But I do think that Kishi again followed JK Rowling's lead in picking pairings, you have your lead protagonist ending up with a 'fangirl' that had very little background to her. That was always my biggest hangup with Naruto/Hinata, we so little of those two interacting that them being paired off just didn't sit well with me. However my biggest hangup was the fact that Sasuke survived his wounds and has seemingly married Sakura (did anyone else think that Sasuke and Sakura's daughter looks more like a cross of Karin and Sasuke than Sakura/Sasuke? not just the glasses but her face as well), I think that if Sasuke had died from his wounds, it would have really made Naruto grow up and would have made for some interesting Naruto/Sakura interactions in the aftermath. I am going to wait until I see the new Naruto movie (which will probably come out in the US in the summer of 2015) before I make a final decision about Naruto, as for what I've read about the movie's plot it will focus on Naruto and Hinata's possible relationship. Can't wait til then, and til next time,**

**SlytherinKnight**


	3. Right into the Frying Pan

**Disclaimer: _Naruto _IS NOT MINE! If it was, then the epilogue/final chapter wouldn't have been nearly the exact same as JK Rowling's epilogue of _Harry Potter_. **

"Is the target in sight?" a garbled voice asked.

"Yes, I have eyes on target," a blonde haired boy answered. "I'm about 10 meters above the target and a little west. Raven, where are you?"

"I am roughly 15 meters to your three o'clock," Sasuke's curt voice answered.

"Roger, Blossom, what about you?" Kakashi asked.

"I am about twenty meters in front of the target," Sakura answered. "My snare is set about ten meters ahead. Raven, Fox, if you can lead the target there, we can end this mission finally."

"Excellent," Kakashi said happily. "Now on my signal, Fox, you will rush in while Raven, you make sure that the target goes toward the trap. On three, one, two…three."

Naruto burst through the underbrush, racing toward a small black blur. "It's heading your way Sasuke!" Naruto cried as the animal made a sharp turn right.

Three soft thuds caused the animal to stop sharply as three shuriken embedded themselves in a tree in front of the target.

"Raven, watch it!" Kakashi scolded. "We are trying to capture the thing, not skin it."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he landed in front of the scared animal. It took one look at Sasuke and shot to the left. And right into the snare trap that Sakura had set up only minutes earlier. A yowling sound came from the trap.

"Is it Tora? Confirmation please, there should be a red ribbon on his right ear," Kakashi asked.

"It's him Kakashi-sensei," Naruto grumbled. "I think after having this mission a dozen times, we can recognize the furball quite well."

"Right then, the Capture Tora mission is complete," Kakashi said. "Let's get back to the Hokage Tower."

It had been five weeks since the trio of Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke had become Team 7 under the leadership of Kakashi Hatake. In that time, the trio's romanticized notions of being a ninja had been quickly squashed by the monotonous and quite basic missions. The three young ninja quickly learned that being a shinobi was not all about going on adventures, recusing damsels in distress or learning powerful jutsus. Kakashi, seemingly, took great pleasure in introducing the three young shinobi to the wonders of D-rank missions, especially the Capture Tora mission.

When the trio complained to their sensei, Kakashi would just respond, "You three are not ready for higher ranking missions yet. D-ranks are perfect for new shinobi. They help you three learn to work together. A shinobi's life is not glamorous and wonderful; you will have to do things that make you feel dirty. Pray that this is the worst experiences you have as a shinobi."

While Sasuke and Sakura both felt that Kakashi was just holding them back, well Sakura was more just going along with whatever Sasuke said, Naruto was grateful for the slow start, much to the amazement of his teammates. Naruto didn't receive a monthly stipend from the village any longer now that he was a genin, and had to pay the rent and for food by himself, and while D-ranks weren't very highly paying; Naruto used them as a steady source of income.

Growing up on his own had forced Naruto to learn a lot of different things that his classmates had taken for granted. Except for Sasuke, all of Naruto's classmates had families to help them, and Sasuke had his clan's funds to help. Naruto had to pay rent, food and ninja supplies; in his youth Naruto scavenged the training ground for abandoned kunai and shuriken. Naruto knew that he wasn't the best thrower in his Academy class but that was more because the equipment he used was not always completely balanced which would throw off his accuracy.

His first purchase with his new funds was a set of brand new kunai and shuriken. Naruto also wrangled a pair of jutsu from the Sandaime Hokage; two support ninjutsu that were created by the old man himself, the **Shuriken Multiplication Jutsu **and **Kunai Multiplication Jutsu**. Naruto loved the two jutsus, as they made sure he didn't need to be absolutely perfect with his accuracy, and with his chakra levels, Naruto could easily block out the sun with only a handful of real shuriken or kunai.

"Ah hello Team 7," the warm voice of the Sandaime said as Team 7 entered the Mission Dispersal Office. "A successful mission then?"

"Hai Hokage-sama," Kakashi said. "Mission: Capture Tora complete!"

"Excellent," Hiruzen grinned. "That seems to be a new record, it only took you three a couple of hours to find Tora this time. Neko, can you please inform Madam Shinji that Tora has been found."

The cat-masked ANBU nodded and slid back into the shadows to inform the wife of the Fire Daimyo that her escape artist of a cat had been found and returned.

"Now then, if you three are up for it we have a number of missions still available," the Hokage said. "A council member needs a babysitter for their grandson, the Inuzaka clan needs some assistance in walking their dogs…"

"Oh come on jiji, we've been doing these chores for over a month," Naruto interrupted. "Don't you have anything better? We are ninja for Kami's sake."

"Naruto, you have only just graduated from the Academy," Iruka scolded. "You are not ready for a higher ranking mission. You know how missions are ranked, and as genin you can only receive D-rank missions…"

"Or C-ranks if deemed advanced enough," Naruto cut in. "Come on Hokage-sama, we have the Rookie of the Year, the smartest kunoichi, the Copy Cat ninja and me, who learned a B-rank jutsu in one night. I think we are advanced enough of a simple C-rank mission."

The Hokage turned his gaze toward Kakashi who met the aged man's stare. "Well Kakashi, do you believe they are ready for a C-rank mission?"

Kakashi looked down at the three genin, who had turned to him. Naruto and Sakura were failing miserably to hide the pleading in their faces while Sasuke was only just failing. '_They have come a long way,_' Kakashi thought.

"Yes Hokage-sama, I believe Team 7 is ready for a simple C-rank mission," Kakashi answered. Naruto and Sakura cheered while Sasuke's smirk was the extent of the stoic boy's excitement.

"Very well," Hiruzen said. "I believe that I have just the…"

"Hokage-sama!" a panicked voice shouted out, barging into the MDO.

"Easy there Shiji-kun, what's wrong?" Hiruzen asked.

"We just released word from Asuma Sarutobi and Team 10," the chunin panted. "It seems that their client, Tazuna of the Wave, didn't relay all the information about who might be after him. Sarutobi-san has requested additional backup, Team 10 managed to fend off an ambush by the missing ninja duo, the Demon Brothers, but he believes there might be more enemies around."

The Hokage's usual jovial expression hardened into one of granite, much like the Hokage monument overlooking the village.

"Team 7," he barked. The four ninja instantly came to attention at their Hokage's command. "You've just gotten very lucky or unlucky. Your mission is to back up Team 10 and assist them in their mission of guarding Tazuna until he completes his bridge. Understood?"

"Hai Hokage-sama," the four ninja barked.

"Dismissed!"

"Meet at the east gate in thirty minutes," Kakashi said. "Pack for three weeks, move it!"

The three genin nodded and raced off.

"Hokage-sama, are you sure it is wise to send just another genin team?" Iruka asked.

"Wise, probably not," Hiruzen admitted. "But there are no teams so readily available, and Kakashi-kun and my son should be able to handle anything Gato is able to muster. Also, Naruto-kun was correct, Team 7 is more than ready. I have high hopes for them and more importantly, I have faith in them."

"Good you are all here," Kakashi said as Team 7 met at the east gate of Konoha. "Have you got everything?" The three genin nodded. "Good, now it's a full day's travel to the coast, Team 10 will most likely be there so we've got to move fast. Now let's move!"

The three genin and one jonin leapt off into the forest that surrounded and protected Konoha, leaving no visible trace.

* * *

><p>"Tazuna, where is this boat supposed to meet us?" Asuma Sarutobi asked the older man with a conical hat and gourd of sake hanging from his satchel.<p>

"Right here," Tazuna said. "Don't worry he'll be here. His boat is the only way across to Nami without Gato knowing."

"Hey sensei, who do you think will be sent as back up?" Choji Akimichi asked, in between bites of chips.

"It will probably be a team of chunin or something," Shikamaru Nara answered. "This whole mission is troublesome, why did we even decide to continue it. We are way out of our depth."

"Because we couldn't just let the people of Nami continue to suffer," Ino Yamanaka shouted.

"I thought that you voted to keep going because you thought that Sasuke would like you if he heard about this mission," Shikamaru pointed out, causing the blonde girl to turn red in anger, and embarrassment at being caught.

"Shika…"

"Ino be quiet," Asuma barked. "Someone's coming."

The other genin instantly surrounded a scared Tazuna while Asuma slipped his trench knives onto his fingers. "Come on out," he called out. "We know you are there."

"Ma, ma," a lazy voice answered Asuma. "No need to get so authoritative Asuma."

Asuma's shoulders relaxed as he returned his knives to his belt. "It's all right team, our back up is here."

Four figures leapt down from the trees, three figures that Ino, Choji and Shikamaru instantly recognized.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino cried, her blonde hair trailing behind her as she rushed past her teammates toward the Uchiha heir.

"What are you guys doing here?" Shikamaru asked.

"We are your back up Shikamaru," Naruto answered.

"But you guys are only genin too? Why were you sent and not a squad of jonin?"

"Because Hokage-sama ordered us," Sakura said.

The soft rumble of an engine brought any conversation to a rapid halt.

"That will be Genji," Tazuna said.

Through the gloom and mist a long boat appeared with a weather-beaten man at the helm.

"Tazuna, what's going on? Who are these people?"

"These are the Konoha shinobi I hired," Tazuna said. "They are here to free us from Gato's yoke."

The boat driver grinned broadly. "Excellent," Genji said. "But we better hurry, Gato's patrol boats will be coming through here soon."

The two Konoha teams and grizzled civilian climbed aboard the rickety boat and they were off.

"Keep all your heads down," Genji ordered. "If we are spotted by Gato's men, we are done for."

"I'll put a genjutsu around the boat," Kakashi said. "That should keep us under the radar." Kakashi's hands flashed through some hand signs and the genin felt a subtle level of chakra fall over them.

The boat ride lasted only ten minutes but none of the genin made a sound in fear of being discovered. When the boat gently nudged against the shoreline of Nami did the genin finally allow themselves to relax.

"How far is it to your home Tazuna?" Asuma asked.

"Not far," Tazuna said. "Only a couple of miles from here. This was the closest Genji could land without us being spotted by Gato's spies inside the village."

The group set off for the bridge builder's home, the six young genin all feeling tense as if they were being watched. Unbeknownst to the young Konoha shinobi, they were being watched. Hidden in the trees were a pair of figures; one was well over six feet tall, dark hair and bandages covering the lower half of his face. Strapped to the man's back was a massive sword that was as long as the man was tall. A smaller figure stood next to the swordsman, this figure wore a uniform of some sort and a white mask hid its face with four wavy lines on the forehead.

"That's Asuma Sarutobi and Kakashi Hatake," the taller man growled. "I didn't expect Konoha to respond so rapidly, and to send Kakashi is something I didn't plan for."

"What should we do Zabuza-sama?" the shorter figure asked.

"We retreat," Zabuza said. "We can't fight both Kakashi and Sarutobi, even if we had the Demon Brothers. And those brats are unknowns, even if they are brats. Let's go Haku, I have to call in some favors if we want to complete this job."

The shadowy ninja leapt from their hiding place and faded into the mist.

"You noticed right?" Kakashi murmured.

"Yes," Asuma answered. "Things are going to become a lot worse than it gets better." Kakashi nodded.

* * *

><p>"Tsunami! Inari! I'm back!" Tazuna shouted as the old man entered a two-story house.<p>

An attractive young woman with long black hair came rushing out of another room.

"Father!" the woman cried before embracing Tazuna. "You're home!"

"Yes I am," Tazuna chuckled. "And these brave shinobi are here to help us."

The woman turned to the Konoha shinobi. "Oh please come in," Tsunami ushered. "Thank you very much for seeing my father home safely."

"It is no problem ma'am," Asuma said, a faint blush tingeing his cheeks at the sight of the woman. "Tazuna, is there a place where we all can sit down and discuss what will be happening from this point forward."

"Right, there's enough room in the kitchen," Tazuna said. "Tsunami, where's Inari?"

"He's down by the docks," Tsunami said. "He should be home soon, it's getting late."

The eight Konoha shinobi sat down at the kitchen table with Tazuna and Tsunami.

"Ok everyone listen up," Asuma said. "This mission, while it has had some very unexpected bumps in the road, will only get more difficult. While we were making our way here, Kakashi and I sensed two people watching us."

"These two people did leave after observing us for a bit," Kakashi picked up the conversation there. "We can only surmise that these two were comrades of the Demon Brothers, and were waiting to ambush us."

"Why didn't they then?" Naruto asked.

"Probably because they didn't feel confident taking on two jonin," Shikamaru said. "An successful ambush means scoring the most damage while sustaining the least amount of risk to themselves. What's the point of an ambush if you get hurt or killed in the process?"

Asuma and Kakashi nodded at the Nara heir's explanation.

"Shikamaru is correct," Kakashi said. "Konoha's most recent information on the Demon Brothers was that they are aligned with Zabuza Momochi, a former Seven Swordsman of the Mist. If this is true then this mission is easily A-rank, can could be even more difficult if Zabuza after seeing Asuma and I, decides to find more help."

"We are no way near ready for this type of mission," Choji moaned.

"No you are not," Asuma said frankly. "But it is too late to change anything, so Kakashi and I are going to use this time to get you all as ready as possible."

"But how?" Ino asked. "How can you possibly train us for this sort of thing?"

"We are not sure," Kakashi admitted. "But this is the life you have all chosen, mission are not always cut and dry. Incidents happen on missions and circumstances will change, and not always for the better."

"I am sorry that I have dragged you all into this mess," Tazuna apologized. "But we are desperate, we had no other option. If the bridge is not completed then Gato will completely rule this land and continue to strangle its people."

"Don't worry Tazuna, we will do all we can to stop this scumbag," Naruto said. Tazuna gave the exuberant blonde a thankful smile.

"I knew you were dumb Naruto but not this stupid," Ino scolded. "We are just genin, what can we do to save an entire country?" The blonde girl shook her head, missing the glares that Sakura and Sasuke sent her way, something that Shikamaru and Choji didn't.

"Anyway, tonight we will relax," Kakashi said. "Make sure you all get a good night's sleep because tomorrow, we hit the ground running."

After a delicious dinner provided by Tsunami, the jonin sent their teams off to bed while they began hashing out a training regime for the young ninja.

"You've missed your chance Forehead," Ino said as the two kunoichi settled themselves down for bed. "It's obvious you haven't captured Sasuke-kun's heart yet and not that I'm here, he'll see what a real woman is like."

Sakura's brow twitched at the use of her hated nickname. "Look Ino-pig, just because Sasuke-kun hasn't responded to my advances doesn't mean he won't. Who between us knows Sasuke-kun's dreams and ambitions?"

Ino glared at her rival, knowing that she didn't have a clue and that Sakura now had a leg up on her. "You might think you have the advantage now Sakura, but you'll see, by the end of this mission, Sasuke-kun will see that I'm his girl," Ino claimed.

In the boys' room, the last loyal Uchiha felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

"Good morning brats," Kakashi chirped, jolting the four male genin from sleep. Instantly, Naruto and Sasuke had kunai in their hands and were ready to attack before recognizing their sensei. "Well done you two, Choji, Shikamaru, we aren't in the village anymore. You should be expecting an attack and always be on guard. Now get dressed and meet us downstairs, its time to start your training."

The cycloptic jonin left the four boys to get dressed in a puff of smoke.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled. "Your sensei is annoying, it's barely the crack of dawn."

"It's the way he is Shikamaru," Naruto said as he pulled on his jumpsuit. "Oh and by the way, if you aren't downstairs soon, he'll come back and drag you out, trust us." Sasuke nodded, and the two male members of Team 7 left the bedroom.

Soon enough the six genin were gathered outside Tazuna's house, but only Team 7 looked alert.

"Now that you are here, we can get started," Asuma said. "Kakashi and I have discussed what you've al learnt so far and knowing that we could be attacked at any time, you all won't be learning anything new, there simply isn't enough time."

"What?" Ino cried. "Then what is the point of training us then?"

"You all will be training on mastering your current abilities," Kakashi said. "Asuma tells me that his team has already learn tree walking, so all genin will work on the next step, water walking. Lucky for us, there are plenty of places in which to practice."

"Now water walking is a more advanced chakra control exercise than tree walking," Asuma said. "While with tree walking, you only need to expend a set amount of chakra to 'stick' to the tree's surface, water is not a solid. Water is constantly moving and changing, and so your chakra must match it. The aim of this exercise is to be able to stand on water without exuding a ripple. Once you have achieved that, then we will more onto walking and then running on top of water."

"To stand on water you must release you chakra from the soles of your feet in a constant flow to in essence create a platform that you will stand on," Kakashi said. "Oh and unless you don't mind wearing wet clothing, you might as well strip down."

Instantly Sakura and Ino's faces bloomed a beet red as they glanced toward Sasuke. The boys hid their embarrassment a bit better but were still nervous about wearing so little in front of girls.

"Come on then, you are all ninja of Konoha," Asuma said, trying to act stern but you could hear the undercurrent of amusement in his voice. Kakashi had hidden his face behind his book but there was a slight hitch in his shoulders.

Naruto glanced at his teammates and Team 10 and saw that none of them looked like they were willing to be the first. The blonde sighed and unzipped his jacket.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Choji asked.

"I don't feel like only having one set of sopping wet clothes," Naruto said. "And anyway, people's bathing suits are just like our underwear, sometimes covering even more."

Asuma and Kakashi grinned as Naruto tossed his jacket and pants to the shore and stood, facing away from his teammates, and tentatively took a step into the water.

"You'll need to go deeper than that Naruto," Kakashi said. "And are you all just going to stand there? Get moving genin."

The other five genin jumped at Kakashi's command and began to discard their own outer clothing, and took their own tentative steps into the water.

Naruto felt his feet wobble as he stepped out further into the small inlet that the Konoha shinobi were training in. The blonde could feel the water fighting his chakra as it tried to stabilize the water beneath his feet.

"Hey this is really easy."

Naruto turned to see Sakura and Ino, dressed in only their shorts and thin tops, standing roughly eight feet out in the water. The sight of his pink haired crush and Ino, who many of his classmates thought was the cutest girl in their class, standing only feet from him, wearing nothing more than short shorts and thin T-shirts was enough for Naruto to lose control and fall into the water causing Sasuke to laugh and the kunoichi to giggle.

But one of those giggles died in a young woman's throat as Naruto resurfaced, sputtering. His black shirt was clinging to his chest, outlining a very fit physique for a boy who was only 13. Naruto's normally spiky blonde hair was laying partially flat thanks to the water, causing the young girl to think of another blonde.

'_Holy Kami! Naruto is hot!_' a stunned voice echoed throughout the head of Sakura Haruno.

'_Yeah, who knew that under that hideous orange jumpsuit, Naruto was hiding such a rocking body,_' a second voice giggled in Sakura's head.

'_Who are you?_' Sakura asked. '_And what are you doing in my head?_'

'_I'm you_,' the voice answered. '_I am your subconscious, who you truly are at the most basic level._'

'_If you are me, then why are you complimenting Naruto, I love Sasuke-kun,_' Sakura argued.

'_Girl, you are 12, what do you know about love?_' Inner Sakura asked. '_And so what if I did compliment Naruto, he's cute. There's nothing wrong with looking._'

'_I guess so,_' Sakura agreed.

Training was called for the day when the mist began to burn off, and the two Konoha teams returned to Tazuna's house.

"All right you guys, that was a very solid first effort," Asuma said. "It is not surprising to see how quickly Sakura and Ino picked this up, they have the smallest chakra capacity. But I was surprised at how fast Naruto was able to get the basics down; I mean he has the largest chakra reserve of them all. Hell, its larger than pops."

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, they all have been quite surprising but will it be enough," he said. "We still need to know what they are capable of, I am sure that each of your team knows some of their clans' jutsus?"

Asuma nodded. "They each know at least one," the son of the Sandaime said. "Shikamaru knows the **Shadow Possession Jutsu**, Choji knows his **Partial Expansion Jutsu** and Ino knows the **Mind Body Switch Jutsu**, what about your brats?"

"Well Sasuke knows the **Great Fireball Jutsu** and the **Phoenix Flame Jutsu**," Kakashi said. "Sakura knows the Academy three and the **False Surroundings Jutsu** and Naruto knows the **Shadow Clone Jutsu**, and the **Kunai Multiplication** and **Shuriken Multiplication Jutsus**."

Asuma whistled. "So pops did show him those two jutsus then?" he commented. "All right then, looks like we have quite a talented group."

Kakashi nodded. "But it won't likely be enough," he said. "Zabuza was ANBU-level when he tried to overthrow the Mizukage, and I doubt that he's lost that much strength since then."

"True but surely you can handle them," Asuma said. "I doubt that Zabuza has many friends that he can call on to help him."

"That is true but we can't be sure," Kakashi pointed out.

A knock interrupted the jonins' conversation.

"Come in," Kakashi said. The door slowly opened to show Naruto and Shikamaru. "What can we do for you boys?"

"Kakashi-sensei, we wanted to speak with you and Asuma-sensei about an idea we…"

"No, you Naruto," Shikamaru interjected. "This was your idea."

"Fine," the blonde sighed. "You said that this Zabuza guy was most likely going to ambush us but didn't because he didn't have enough teammates, right?"

"That's right," Kakashi said.

"Well, I was thinking why don't we take this Zabuza and Gato down before his back-up gets here," Naruto said. "Don't we have the advantage?"

Kakashi grinned beneath his mask. "What makes you think we haven't already thought of that? The problem with that idea is that we don't know where Zabuza's base is?"

"Well, I can find out," Naruto said. "I mean, I can send out my clones, disguised and we can find it really quickly."

Kakashi and Asuma turned to one another.

"That could work," Asuma admitted. "So you know the trick about the **Shadow Clones** then Naruto?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I've known about the memory thing since team announcements," he said. "But would it work?"

"It could," Kakashi said slowly. Naruto noticed Kakashi's hands twitching and Asuma responding. "All right Naruto, you have three days to find out where Zabuza's base is and come up with a suitable assault plan. If you can't, then we will have to wait until Zabuza makes his own move, understood?"

"Yes sensei," Naruto said with a crisp salute. The two genin quickly left to find a place to plan.

"You are putting a lot of faith in those two, especially Naruto," Asuma said.

"I am," Kakashi agreed. "Naruto has this gift to get people to believe in him, I don't know what it is but it makes me want to see what he'll do. He's going to surprise a lot of people, something has changed in him since he graduated."

"He does have that gift," Asuma said. "Being able to get Shikamaru to participate means something, kind of reminds me of him, doesn't it?"

"It does," Kakashi said. "It's in his blood for sure."

**A/N: Well there's the newest chapter of '_Hidden Legacy_,' hope you all enjoyed it. I wanted to change up the Wave Mission from my previous stories, I looked back on my previous Naruto story '_Underneath the Underneath_' and wow, it was pathetic. I really didn't know how to write with any type of pacing, Naruto's power levels were all over the place and I couldn't get like anything right. I hope that this new edition will be much better. I do have an announcement, this story will follow all of Naruto, from the start of the manga, to his journey with Jiraiya, and then into Shippuden and perhaps past that, at the very least that is what I am hoping to accomplish. It is going to take some time, I am hoping to have an update every 10 days to two weeks but that is fluid and can always change. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and til next time,**

**SlytherinKnight**


	4. First Blood

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own _Naruto_! If I did, the final chapter of the manga would not mirror the crap-ilogue of the _Harry Potter_ series. Hero marries fan-girl while heroine marries the guy who has deserted/betrayed her twice! Come on man!**

It had been two days since Naruto had approached Kakashi and Asuma with his idea for searching for Zabuza's hideout using his **Shadow Clones**, and the clones had reported no success. The genins' training had quickly moved along, now all six of the genin could stand easily on the water; Sakura, Ino and Shikamaru could run across the surface while Naruto, Sasuke and Choji were able to jog. The Uchiha heir was openly jealous of the two kunoichi and Shikamaru for their seeming ease in learning the exercise but was calmed when Kakashi pulled him aside and told him that he had a larger chakra reserve than the others (aside from Naruto), making it more difficult to control.

The genin had also met Tazuna's grandson, Inari, and the young boy had done nothing to ingrain himself well with the young ninja. Inari constantly belittled or insulted the genin, always telling them that their efforts were for naught, and that they were going to die no matter what they did. Naruto's grasp on his temper was beginning to fray from the mental stress of sorting through his clones' memories, and Inari's constant snide comments were not helping matters. And finally at dinner on their third day in the Wave, Naruto finally snapped.

"Will you shut up and stop your pathetic whining?" Naruto shouted, slamming his hands down on the table. "All you've done since we got here is whine and claim that Gato is going to kill us. You don't know any of us, and yet we are here risking our lives to protect your grandfather, even though he lied to us."

Inari gave a watery glare at Naruto. "What do you know about us?" the boy shouted. "I bet you've never suffered a day in your life, sitting there always laughing or smiling…"

An oppressive feeling fell over the kitchen robbing Inari, Tazuna and Tsunami of breath, and causing Sakura, Ino and Choji to struggle for breath themselves.

"Don't you ever think you are the only one who has suffered in their lives," Naruto snarled, his blue eyes dark. "Judging from all your whining you have lost someone close to you, probably to Gato but you don't hold the monopoly on suffering. Have you ever gone to bed for weeks on end hungry and wondering why? Have you ever been on the receiving end of an entire village's worth of glares and cold looks? I bet you've rarely left this house, you don't know how lucky you have it. Have you seen the squalor and filth that people are living in the center of the village? You have a mother who makes sure you are fed and tucked in each night and a grandfather who is trying to save this country by finishing his bridge, and you are spitting in his face. You disgust me, coward!"

Tears were now streaming down Inari's cheeks by the end of Naruto's rant and he pushed off from the table and raced from the room, his sobs echoing down the hallway.

"Naruto!" Sakura snapped. "You went…" but her scolding died in her throat as Naruto looked at her with stormy eyes.

"Excuse me, I'm going to train," Naruto said and left without another word. Only once he had left the house were Tazuna and Tsunami able to take a deep breath and calm their racing hearts.

"Apologies for my student," Kakashi said. "He grew up without anyone teaching him the social niceties, and has had a difficult life. If you don't mind, I will speak with Inari to explain that Naruto doesn't actually hate him, he just is very blunt."

Tsunami nodded and Kakashi went after the young boy.

"Asuma-sensei, what about Naruto?" Ino asked. "What gave him the right to…"

"Ino," Asuma said sharply, halting the talkative Yamanaka. "Why Naruto might have overstepped his bounds, he has more right than more to speak about suffering. Even more than you Sasuke."

"What?" Team 10 said at the same time.

"It's true," Sasuke said. "Naruto has always been alone, he never knew his parents and does not have a clan to help him. He knows what it means to be strong in the face of adversity."

Team 10 was stunned to hear Sasuke's defense of Naruto. Their only interaction with the pair, before this mission, was during the Academy and there, Naruto and Sasuke were complete opposites and were always at each others' throats.

"Excuse us as well," Sakura said as she and Sasuke rose from the table. "Tsunami-san, dinner was excellent as usual."

The others watched as the final two members of Team 7 left the room in search of their teammates.

"Stupid little brat," Naruto growled as he threw a kunai at a nearby tree. The force of the throw made the kunai sink nearly an inch into the tree. "What does he know about me, my life?"

Naruto yanked his kunai from the tree and stomped off ten paces from the tree. He took aim once more at the tree and hurled the kunai at the trunk. Naruto watched as once again the kunai slammed into the trunk with a thud. '_You don't know anything about how we've suffered,_' Inari's voice shouted in Naruto's head.

"Argh!" Naruto shouted as he reached for more and more of his kunai. Soon all that was heard were the dull thuds of Naruto's kunai impacting the tree.

"You've gotten a lot better at throwing those kunai," an amused voice commented.

"I'm not in the mood for your commentary Sasuke," Naruto said, not looking around. "What are you two doing here?"

"We came to see if you are ok Naruto," Sakura said as she and Sasuke entered the small clearing where Naruto was practicing. "We know that Inari was really over the line but also you have to remember, he is just a child. Inari doesn't know you Naruto, he's just speaking about his own pain."

"I know that," Naruto said. "I know he's just a sheltered little kid but that gives him no right to think he has the monopoly on having a tough life."

"We know Naruto," Sakura said. "But you really scared Team 10 back there. You have to remember that they don't know you like we do."

Naruto sighed and nodded, retrieving the last of his kunai. "I know Sakura-chan," he said. "I should probably go and apologize to them."

"No," Sasuke said curtly. "You have nothing to apologize for Naruto, the brat claimed that he suffered and you could not understand his pain. Pain and suffering is unique to each person but to claim that someone has never suffered before is idiotic and arrogant beyond measure."

Naruto sat down at the base of a tree, and looked at his teammates. Sakura had taken a seat next to Naruto while Sasuke was leaning against a nearby tree.

"Can you imagine what the others would say if they saw us now?" Sakura commented.

"They would have no idea what to think," Naruto chuckled. "We have really changed since the Academy."

"This lifestyle will do that to you," Sasuke said. Naruto and Sakura nodded.

* * *

><p><em>"Look you three, you all might think you are something special but you're not!" Kakashi barked as he met Team 7 a week after they had passed the true genin test. "You three are the lowest of the low, just genin. Rookie of the Year, dead last, those titles are now meaningless. You just entered a world that is a lot larger than you might think. You all need to grow up! Stop acting like children!"<em>

_"What! How dare…" Sasuke began but Kakashi cut him off. The jonin had appeared behind the Uchiha boy and had put the boy in a chokehold._

_"That's what I am talking about," Kakashi growled. "You hear something that makes you angry and you fly off the handle. A shinobi does not let his or her emotions control them. You are acting like spoilt children, expecting everything to be handed to you. You must earn strength, it will not be given to you."_

_"But you haven't taught us anything to make us stronger!" Naruto shouted. "How are we supposed to get stronger if you don't…"_

_"Do you really think that just being given powerful jutsus will make you strong?" Kakashi asked. The three genin nodded. "You're wrong. Wielding powerful jutsus does not make one strong. One's strength comes from within. You can wield all the powerful jutsus in the world but be the weakest person because of it."_

_"Then how do I get stronger?" Sasuke growled._

_"That is a question you must answer for yourselves," Kakashi said. "This team has the potential to be great perhaps as great as the Sannin but that will never happen unless you all learn to work together. And I think I know the perfect way."_

_Before any of the genin could even blink, Kakashi had released Sasuke and vanished. Then the world went dark._

_"Where the hell are we?" Naruto shouted as he came too in the middle of a dark room. The sounds of two groans made the blonde aware that he wasn't alone. Naruto turned and could just make out the forms of Sasuke and Sakura stirring._

_"What happened?" Sakura groaned. "Sasuke-kun!" she cried noticing the downed object of her affections. She quickly scrambled to her feet and rushed toward the dark haired boy, who was getting to his own feet._

_"Get off me," Sasuke growled, pushing the girl aside causing her to stumble and fall._

_"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura whispered from the floor._

_"What the hell was that for bastard? Sakura-chan was only trying to help you Sasuke, you didn't need to push her," Naruto shouted._

_"I don't need help, especially from weaklings like her," Sasuke snapped causing Sakura to flinch._

_"Sakura-chan is not weak!" Naruto shouted. "Neither of us would have passed without her help and traps! Sakura-chan is also the smartest person in our class, just because she isn't as strong as you doesn't mean she's weak. You wouldn't be a genin without her."_

_"Tch," Sasuke grunted looking away from Naruto and Sakura._

_"Naruto," Sakura whispered, looking at her blonde teammate in surprise._

_"Where are we anyway?" Sasuke asked, looking around the dimly lit room, Sasuke was thankful for the low light as his face was flushed with embarrassment from Naruto's scolding._

_"No idea, the last thing I remembered was Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto trailed off._

_"Kakashi-sensei!" the trio shouted, wildly looking around for their sensei._

_"Yo," the man's voice echoed around the room._

_"Where are you, you bastard?" Naruto shouted. "Let us out of here!"_

_"Now where would be the fun in that?" Kakashi's amused voice chuckled. "You three were acting like children, so I'm treating you like children and putting you all in timeout."_

_"What!" the three genin cried._

_"You three are going to learn to get along," Kakashi ordered. "I don't care how long it takes but you three will become a team. On and don't try and break out, I've placed chakra restricting seals on each one of you so you can't use any chakra."_

_"How dare you!" Sasuke roared. "How dare you take my power away!"_

_"So Sasuke-kun, how does it feel to be a weakling?" Kakashi asked. "You are nothing more than a civilian with a fancy last name now."_

_"You…you bastard!" Sasuke roared, rearing his fist back to punch the wall._

_"Sasuke, that's enough!" Naruto said sharply, catching the boy's fist. "There is no sense in getting yourself hurt over a pointless venture. You punching the wall and messing up your hand is not going to get us out of here."_

_"What do you know dobe!" Sasuke shouted. "You are nothing but a clan less orphan!"_

_"Just like you," Naruto said calmly. "You might be an Uchiha but right now you are without a clan and parents, which makes us both clan less orphans. We have both lost our families; the only difference is that you at least knew your parents for years and have those memories. I never met my parents, I have always been alone so I will not let you mess this chance up."_

_"Naruto," Sakura whispered, feeling the weight of her actions toward Naruto from over their years at the Academy pressing down on her._

_"You are nothing like me Naruto!" Sasuke snarled but Naruto thought he heard a tiny waver in the boy's voice. "You never had your family ripped away from you by the one person you most looked up too. You don't have to live with the memories of that man slicing my mother's throat right in front of me!"_

_Naruto and Sakura were stunned. They of course had heard about the Uchiha Massacre but they had no idea that Sasuke had witnessed it. They had thought that Sasuke had only come across the aftermath. Sasuke saw Naruto's face harden into a set expression._

_"Don't you fucking pity me Naruto!" Sasuke roared, his eyes flashing in the dim lights._

_"I am not pitying you Sasuke," Naruto said. "This information has only increased my respect for you Sasuke."_

_If Sasuke was expecting an answer, it certainly was not that._

_"Sasuke, you went through something that was horrendous and the fact that you haven't become a stark raving lunatic bent on revenge is a credit to your mental fortitude," Naruto said. "I don't think that I could be able to function at all if I had to go through something like that. And it's made me want to be just like you, well without the massive pole in your ass."_

_Sakura gave a soft giggle at Naruto's comment, though the boys didn't know if it was because she thought it was funny or because it involved Sasuke's ass._

_"You were the one I always strived to be," Naruto admitted. "You were the best in the class and everyone wanted to be around you. Me, I was always the screw-up, the fool who everyone ignored or made fun of. When I found out that we were going to be teammates, I couldn't have been happier because now, I could work my way closer to being at your level and you would see it. And then maybe…"_

"It's getting late," Naruto said, looking up and noticing that the moon had risen high above the trees. "We should head back. We have a big day tomorrow."

The two other genin of Team 7 nodded and as one began the walk back to Tazuna's house, not noticing a pair of brown eyes watching the three genin walk away.

* * *

><p>"Good morning my cute little genin," Kakashi's cheerful voice chirped. "Asuma's cut genin as well," he added as Team 10 entered the clearing where the Konoha shinobi had been training. "Now as you know, we are getting closer to the time when we believe that Zabuza will make his move. It has been three days now since we arrived and there has been no movement on Zabuza's side but it has also been long enough for him to call in reinforcements, so we are now going to rotate training and providing protection for Tazuna at the bridge."<p>

"What do you mean rotate?" Naruto asked.

"Each day, two of you will go with Tazuna and either myself or Asuma to the bridge while the others will remain behind and train," Kakashi said.

"Now Naruto, have you been able to find out where Gato's hideout is?" Asuma asked. Naruto shook his head.

"Not yet but I know I'm getting close," Naruto said confidently. Suddenly the blonde paused and his eyes gained a far-off look.

"Naruto? Are you all right?" Kakashi asked.

"I just found Gato's hideout," Naruto said. "And it seems like Zabuza's back up has arrived."

"Zabuza's back up first," Kakashi said sharply. "Can you describe them?"

"Do you have a bingo book sensei?" Naruto asked. Kakashi nodded and fished one out of his pouch. He handed it to Naruto, and the blonde quickly began to flip through the pages.

"Here's one of the newcomers," Naruto said, showing Kakashi and Asuma a photo of a man with dark green hair and gray eyes.

"Aoi Rokusho," Kakashi sighed. "This just got a whole lot more troublesome."

"Who is Aoi Rokusho?" Sakura asked.

"Aoi was a chunin from Konoha before he deserted the village," Asuma explained. "Aoi believed that the village was deliberately holding him back, so he ran off but not before stealing the Nidaime's Sword of the Thunder God."

"He did what?" Naruto shouted.

"About two years ago," Kakashi confirmed. "He's listed as an A-rank bounty but that is more because of what he stole, not his skills. Aoi, when he defected, was around high-C to low-B in skills at best. But he has managed to survive this long, so we must figure that he has gotten stronger since leaving the village."

Naruto had taken the bingo book back from Kakashi and was staring at the older photo of Aoi Rokusho. Ever since learning that he was related to the Nidaime Hokage, the blonde had tried to learn as much as he possibly could about the Hokages, and to find out that this Aoi had stolen the Nidaime's prized possession sent Naruto's blood boiling.

"Naruto!" Kakashi's voice jerked Naruto back to the outside world. "Was there anyone else that came to help Zabuza?"

Naruto quickly scanned through the rest of the bingo book. "No, none of the others are in here," he said. "There were three others that came with Aoi but they all looked pretty young, around our age."

"Ok, good job Naruto," Kakashi said. "It looks like we won't be splitting up. We have to assume that Zabuza will attack sooner rather than later, so we are going to stick together and all be at the bridge."

"But sensei, what if they come here?" Sakura asked. "If we are all at the bridge, then if Gato or Zabuza sends someone to the house, there won't be anyone to protect Tsunami-san or Inari-san?"

"Good point," Kakashi said, trying to cover up his embarrassment at forgetting about the client's family. "Naruto, I want you to stay here tomorrow and watch over Tsunami and Inari. Send a **Shadow Clone** with us to keep up appearances. But if the situation gets too hot, bug out and hole up in a safe place with Tsunami and Inari."

"Right," Naruto nodded.

"Shikamaru, I want you to stay with Naruto as well," Asuma said.

"All right," Shikamaru agreed, looking relieved that he wasn't having to go to the bridge and possibly fight a pair of missing ninja.

The next morning saw the Konoha group, minus Naruto and Shikamaru, leave the house with Tazuna in tow. Two of Naruto's **Shadow Clones** went with the others to keep up the façade that Tazuna's house would be unprotected.

"Hey Naruto?" Shikamaru asked as the two boys helped Tsunami finish cleaning up breakfast.

"Yeah Shikamaru?" Naruto answered, drying his hands on a towel.

"What happened to you?" the Nara heir asked. "In the Academy, you were this, this…"

"Screw up, idiot, etcetera, right?" Shikamaru nodded. Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, I was a major moron back then, wasn't I?" he said softly. "In the Academy, all I cared about was getting attention, having someone notice me and it didn't matter if that attention was good or bad. Being alone is the worst kind of hell, Shikamaru. Everyone else except for Sasuke, has someone who they can rely on or know that will have their backs, to tuck them in at night, tell them that things will be all right. And even Sasuke had his family for at least some of his life, I've been alone my entire life."

Shikamaru bowed his head. He knew that he was one of the ones who had kept away from Naruto while they were younger. Not because of his parents or anyone had told him too but because he felt it was too troublesome to approach the lonely boy. Shame licked hot and fierce at Shikamaru's innards.

"Naruto, I'm…" Shikamaru began but Naruto cut him off.

"Don't Shikamaru," the blonde said. "It's all in the past and we can't change it, so don't bother. You wanted to know what caused me to change Shikamaru. It was because I found out that I have a legacy to live up too, I made a promise to someone that I would become the pillar of strength that will shoulder the burdens of the village. And to do that, I had to change how I acted if I wanted to fulfill my promise, and I never go back on my word."

"Who?" Shikamaru asked.

"Someone very important," Naruto said. "I can't tell you more. Hokage's orders." Naruto's head suddenly snapped around to face the front door. "They are here. Tsunami-san, take Inari and go upstairs, hurry."

The dark haired woman saw the complete seriousness in the blonde's eyes and nodded. She quickly ushered Inari upstairs, though the boy didn't want to go. Once the two civilians had been moved to a secure location, Naruto and Shikamaru each used the **Henge** to change into Tsunami and Inari. Suddenly two swords slashed through the front door. The door fell to the floor in pieces and two men entered.

"Heh, who knew that the old man had such a looker of a daughter?" one of the men grinned nastily.

"You know what Gato said, she is to come with us, unspoiled," the other man said sharply.

"Fine," the first man growled sulkily. "All right beautiful, twerp, let's go."

"Go where?" Tsunami asked, her voice trembling. "What do you want?"

"Look babe, no questions," the second man snapped. This man was thin and muscled with a dark goatee and blue tattoos on his chest. The other man was very tall and heavily muscled, much like a body builder. He was also completely clean-shaven. "Our boss wants you and the twerp to come with us. Once the ninja are all dead, the bridge builder will have no one to protect him. He'll listen to Gato if he knows what's good for him. Now let's go!"

"You're not taking my mom anywhere!" Inari shouted.

"You know Gato never said how many hostages we needed," the bald man said with an evil glint in his eyes. "Only that the daughter was unspoiled. I bet the kid's corpse will send a real strong message to Tazuna."

The second man sighed. "Fine," he said. "Just hurry up, I don't want to miss all the fun."

The bald man's face twisted as an evil smile enveloped it. Inari shivered as he stumbled backward away from the man who was now drawing his sword. The sound of metal softly scrapping against leather filled the kitchen.

"What the hell!" the man shouted as he froze, his sword half drawn. "I can't move!"

The thinner man tried to move as well but was stuck. He noticed that Inari was kneeling in front of them with a small smile on his face, his hands in a weird shape.

"**Shadow Possession Jutsu**, success." Inari's voice changed, growing slightly deeper and it gained a drawling quality.

"Good work Shikamaru," Tsunami said, her voice now a male's. Two puffs of smoke later revealed Shikamaru and Naruto standing in the kitchen.

"Ninja!" the thin man realized as his struggles grew stronger but it was too late as his vision went dark and he slumped to the floor, his partner next to him.

"What should we do with them?" Shikamaru asked.

"We should kill them," Naruto said flatly. "It's what they would do."

"But we are not them," Shikamaru said, his face looking slightly queasy at the thought of killing in cold blood.

"We are ninja Shikamaru," Naruto said. "Killing is part of the way of life we've chosen."

"Yes but killing in cold blood makes us just as bad as these two," Shikamaru argued. "Let's tie them up and leave their fate for the people of the Wave to decide."

"Fine," Naruto said, though he was inwardly relieved that he didn't have to kill the men in such a cold manner. He paused as his **Shadow Clone** traveling with the others went pop. "Let's go, the others are in trouble."

* * *

><p>"They're here, aren't they sensei?" Sakura asked as the Konoha group and Tazuna reached the unfinished bridge. A thick mist was blocking nearly the entire bridge from sight.<p>

"Yes, this is not a natural mist," Kakashi commented. "This is most likely the **Hidden Mist Jutsu**. Everyone be on guard, Zabuza is a master of the **Silent Killing Technique**."

A cold, cruel laugh echoed around the Konoha shinobi. "Well informed as always Kakashi," a voice said. "Hand over the bridge builder and you all can leave with your lives."

"Not going to happen Zabuza," Asuma said. "Konoha shinobi don't abandon a mission, and we sure as hell won't let you and Gato continue terrorizing this land."

The laugh turned to one of amusement. "Ah yes, the vaunted Hidden Leaf's sense of righteousness," Zabuza said. "In this world, there are those with power and those without. Those without will never be anything more than stepping-stones for those with power. Why do you think Konoha has been considered the strongest village for so long?"

"You're wrong!" Ino shouted. " The Leaf is nothing like that!"

"Such naiveté," Zabuza commented. "Let me guess girly, this is your first time outside of your village. You haven't even wet your hands in the blood of your enemies yet. We are shinobi, the weapons that the Kage point at each other. You children know nothing of the harsh realities of this world. By the time I was your age, I had already drenched these hands in blood. We are the monsters of this world, hiding in the shadows waiting for the time to strike."

As Zabuza spoke, a chill fell over the genin. They had never felt such cold that seeped into their very bones, and a bloodlust that snatched away the very air from their lungs. Ino and Sakura were struggling to stay on their feet, Choji was panting heavily while Sasuke's skin had a noticeable sheen to it."

"Looks like the only true shinobi here are Kakashi, Sarutobi, the blonde and the pineapple head," Zabuza commented. "They can stand some killing intent."

"Enough of the games Zabuza," Asuma barked. "Come out and fight us!"

"Now why would I do that? It would be so much easier to just slit all your throats," Zabuza said. "You wouldn't even know you were cut until you are already dead."

Kakashi looked to Asuma and the son of the Sandaime Hokage nodded.

"**Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!**" Asuma shouted, exhaling a large stream of wind.

"**Fire Release: Fire Stream!**" Kakashi echoed. The twin jutsus collided and instead of exploding, they swirled together to form a tornado of flames that raced across the bridge evaporating the mist.

"Think that got him?" Choji asked, staring in awe at the two jonins' combination jutsu.

"I'd be a pretty piss poor shinobi if that was all it took to kill me," Zabuza commented, appearing a couple down meters away from the Konoha shinobi. And he wasn't alone, five other shinobi were standing next to the tall former Mist shinobi. One was wearing a white mask, much like an ANBU mask, a second was the Konoha missing ninja, Aoi Rokusho, but the other three were unknown to the Konoha shinobi. The three young ninja didn't look much older than the Konoha genin but wore an unfamiliar headband, the symbol was that of a musical note and all had dark camouflage pants.

"I see you brought friends," Kakashi commented lightly, giving the newcomers his patented eye-smile.

"No one said we couldn't," Zabuza answered back. "Though calling them friends would be an enormous stretch."

"Enough chit chat!" Aoi barked. "Let's wipe these weaklings out and get going."

"You certainly won't be leaving this place alive Aoi," Asuma growled. "Not after what you pulled."

"Oh come now Asuma-kun, do you really think you have chance against me while I wield this blade," Aoi chuckled, drawing a sword handle from his back. "With it, I am invincible!"

Kakashi noted that Zabuza narrowed his eyes at Aoi's bragging. '_I wonder what that's all about,_' he thought.

"Look at your little genin Kakashi, Asuma, they are trembling," Aoi laughed. "They look like they are about to piss their pants, so much for the Last Uchiha and the next Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Pathetic."

Sasuke growled lowly as he drew a kunai from his pouch.

"Easy Sasuke," Kakashi said. "He's just trying to make you angry and unfocused. Control your emotions, don't let them control you."

"As much as I hate agreeing with that wannabe, its time to begin," Zabuza said, hefting his blade onto his shoulder.

"Kakashi, can you handle Zabuza? I'll take Aoi," Asuma said. "Team 19, you'll have those three ninja wearing the music headbands."

"Team 7, you have Zabuza's accomplice," Kakashi ordered. "Sakura, you have Tazuna."

"Right sensei," the six genin barked.

"Now we are talking," one of the unfamiliar ninja, a boy with dark hair and a headband much like the Nidaime Hokage, said with an arrogant air.

The two sides watched each other for a moment as a breeze blew across the bridge, acting as an unspoken starting bell. The two groups charged forward, each ninja angling for their opponent.

"**Shuriken Shadow Multiplication Jutsu!**" a voice rang out from behind the Konoha shinobi, a voice that they all knew very well. A shower of shuriken pierced the bridge just in front of the enemy ninja, halting their advance in its tracks.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried as Naruto and Shikamaru appeared next to their respective teams.

"So Tsunami and Inari are ok?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course, what sort of heroes would we be if we didn't rescue the women and children?" Naruto asked.

"Don't drag me into this," Shikamaru groaned. "Sensei, the two thugs that came after Tsunami and Inari said something about Gato betraying Zabuza."

"What?" Zabuza shouted. "Speak boy, what's this about that little midget betraying me?"

"Yeah, yeah, the two thugs said that the plan was for us to either kill or tire each other out and then he'd show up and clean house," Naruto said, nodding."

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Zabuza snarled. "If Gato even tries to betray me, he'll end up being a good head shorter then he already is. Now, Hatake and Sarutobi's heads will bring quite the bounties, and who knows how much people will pay for an Uchiha."

"It's the truth," Naruto shouted. "Why would we lie to you?"

"How about the fact that you have no chance of beating all of us?" Zabuza countered. "The only threats here are Hatake and Sarutobi, the rest of you are just babies trying to play ninja. So you are trying to save yourselves by trying to trick me into letting my guard down. Now enough talking, let's fight!"

**A/N: Well there's that, the newest chapter of this fine tale. Hope you all enjoyed it. Now I've been seeing some rumors about "Naruto: The Last" and it's kind of making me sick. Full disclaimer, I have had a problem with Naruto/Hinata for a while, mainly because there has been so little interaction between the two characters in the manga. To me, Hinata is a Naruto fan-girl through and through. Her main reason for trying to become strong is Naruto, sounds a lot like Sakura in how she acts toward Sasuke. Kishimoto, IMO, followed JKR in her thoughts of pairings, he didn't want the hero and lead female character to be together in fear of being too cliche, so he put the hero with a fan girl who has very little character development. A lot of Sakura haters say she abused Naruto while they were kids, and it is true, she does hit Naruto. Though it is usually when Naruto does something stupid, mirroring Tsunade and Jiraiya and a bit of Kushina and Minato. **

**Honestly, throughout the manga, what does Hinata bring to the table for Naruto? She tells him she loves him during the Pein battle, but does she really feel love or just obsessive admiration? She would always watch Naruto, what him struggle to get something or struggle to gain acceptance and recognition, and yet she never does anything about that. Hinata never sticks her neck out for Naruto, she didn't go comfort him when he was lonely, when he was struggling for recognition and acceptance. This rant will probably bring down the Hinata lovers on me but I am just pointing out Hinata's flaws, Sakura has her own flaws. She and Hinata are, IMO, very similar people just that Sakura had Ino help Sakura gain some confidence when they were younger, Hinata didn't get that chance. I'll most likely watch "Naruto: The Last" just to see how Kishimoto bridges the gap between chapter 699 and 700. Also, I think he wanted to balance Sakura and Hinata by letting them each have a major role in a film, and according to the Naruto ****wikia, Hinata gets captured by the mysterious enemy in the film and Naruto has to rescue her, just like he did in "Road to a Ninja" for Sakura. Well, there's my rant.**

**A/N 2: I have hand written out several chapters in advance, at this point, I am just finishing up chapter 7 but I am reaching an impasse, what to do with Sasuke? Should I have him follow his path in the manga, or do I have him blaze his own path? Let me know what you all would like to see by voting in the poll that is on my profile page. Now, I'm done, til next time**

**SlytherinKnight**


	5. Decisions and Choices

**Disclaimer: Anything relating directly to **_**Naruto**_** does NOT belong to me, I don't own any of the recognizable characters from Kishimoto's magnificent creation, even if he screwed up the final chapters. Madara should have been the final villain not Kaguya. **

It was quite a peculiar site for a battle between ninja, a partially completed bridge. But such as in life, you don't get a choice in some things. These were the thoughts that were speeding through the head of one Naruto Uzumaki as he and his teammate, Sasuke Uchiha, battled the masked accomplice of Zabuza Momochi. The masked ninja was a very tricky opponent for both Naruto and Sasuke. She used a lot of elemental jutsus, namely Ice jutsus and was faster than both Sasuke and Naruto.

"**Ice Release: Ice Senbon Barrage!**" the masked ninja called out. Dozens of ice needles rose into the air in front of her. Both Sasuke and Naruto felt the subtle pulse of chakra that came from their opponent that signaled the start of the attack. The icy needles sped toward the two boys, forcing them to separate.

"**Water Release: Water Clone!**"

From a puddle, a copy of Zabuza's accomplice formed and turned to face Naruto. The blonde drew a pair of kunai and continued racing toward the clone. The **Water Clone** created a kunai made of ice to counter Naruto's kunai.

Clang!

Naruto's kunai and the ice kunai met each other with a loud clang.

"Why are you doing this?" Naruto asked. "I was not lying about how Gato is going to betray you and Zabuza, we don't have to fight."

"My master has ordered me to fight, and so I fight," the girl said. "I will not fail Zabuza-sama."

"Can I at least know your name? Don't really want to call you, hey you," Naruto asked.

"I am Haku."

"Ok Haku, if you won't stop fighting, then I'll have to make you," Naruto vowed. He swiped at Haku with his off-hand kunai, forcing the Ice wielding ninja to leap backward. Naruto flipped the kunai in his left hand and tossed it at the **Water Clone**, with his other kunai in its shadow.

The **Water Clone** easily dodged the two kunai and charged toward Naruto. The blonde was frantically racking his brain for a way to defeat the clone and team back up with Sasuke, but he couldn't think of a way to win. He didn't know any ranged jutsu aside from the **Shuriken** and **Kunai Multiplication Jutsu** and while he was getting better at taijutsu, it was still worst area, he didn't count genjutsu, it just wasn't worth mentioning.

"**Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Naruto shouted. Two dozen clones appeared around Naruto, and with a mental command he sent the clones in waves after the lone **Water Clone**.

"**Shuriken Multiplication Jutsu!**" Naruto cried, flinging a pair of shuriken at Haku who had been hemmed in by the clones. The two real shuriken became a cloud of three dozen. Haku looked up at the approaching storm of spinning metal and seemed to take a breath as the shuriken sliced into her. The clone fell apart into a puddle of water and a few seconds later, the majority of Naruto's shuriken vanished as well.

A loud crash caught Naruto's attention and his breath caught in his throat at the sight of a large dome of ice. Through its distortion, Naruto saw Sasuke launch his **Great Fireball Jutsu** at the ice dome, and the blonde was stunned, and frightened, that it had no effect.

Naruto was about to rush over to Sasuke's aid when a shrill scream stopped him short. Turning around, Naruto saw Team 10 being besieged by the genin team that were wearing headbands with musical notes on them. Ino and Choji were down while Shikamaru was kneeling in front of them in his **Shadow Possession Jutsu** stance, trying to keep their enemies at bay.

"You will not be able to save all of them," a soft voice said from behind Naruto. The blonde spun around to see Haku standing in front of him. Naruto quickly drew another kunai. "Do not worry Naruto, this is only a clone and it has very little chakra left. But you have a choice to make: who do you attempt to help: your teammate or your comrades? Those ninja from Oto will kill your comrades for sure unless you help them but if you do, then your teammate will fall to me. So what will you choose: your teammate or your comrades?"

"I…" Naruto stammered. "I will save them all!"

"You won't," Haku said coldly. "You will fail and someone will die. You must make a choice: your teammate or your comrades?"

"Shut up," Naruto shouted. "I am going to save them all. I am not a failure!"

"You are a failure," Haku said. "You are being a child if you think save everyone. People die all the time, you cannot save everyone. Now choose!"

"I choose…" Naruto stuttered, his voice cracking as he heard Shikamaru grunt in pain and clutch at his head. "Stop it," he whimpered. "Stop hurting them!"

"I am not hurting them," Haku said. "You are the one hurting them by your inaction. What will you do Naruto? Will you attempt to save your comrades or your teammate? Choose Naruto or you will fail at everything. Choose!"

Naruto clutched his own head, trying to block out Haku's voice, the screams of Team 10 and Sasuke's seemingly futile attempts to break free of Haku's ice dome but nothing was working. "Stop it!" Naruto pleaded. "Make it stop!"

"_**Pathetic,**_" a deep and booming voice sneered deep within the recesses of Naruto's mind. "_**So weak,**_" it growled. A reddish flow illuminated the silhouette of something massive hidden behind a massive gate. "_**You better thank me for this brat!**_"

Naruto gasped as he felt a massive surge of boiling hot energy swell up inside him, emanating from his stomach. He felt refreshed and energized, he felt invincible.

"**Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Naruto roared. The battles around the bridge had all paused at the feeling of a new chakra appear in the area. The genin all shivered at the roiling and wild chakra, they had never felt such cold and destructive feeling chakra. But the two Konoha jonin (and former Konoha chunin) had, and a former Kiri jonin had felt something similar.

"Naruto," Kakashi whispered. "It's time we ended this Zabuza, I don't have time to keep playing around."

Haku's clone was stunned as it was suddenly blown away by what could only be described as a tornado of chakra. The final thought that passed through the clone's brain was, '_What is this boy?_'

As the smoke cleared, Naruto was surrounded by a mass of clones, nearly as many as he had made the night Naruto learned that the Kyubi was sealed within him.

'_This is incredible,_' Naruto thought as he enjoyed the power coursing through his body. '_I've never felt this strong. I like it,_' he added, clenching a fist.

"You know what to do!" Naruto ordered. The clones nodded and turned en mass toward Team 10, Naruto himself racing off toward the ice dome where Sasuke was battling the real Haku.

"What the hell was that?" the raven-haired girl wearing a musical not headband asked. "I've never felt such strong and evil chakra, even from…"

"Silence Kin," the mummified boy warned. "We can't speak of our Lord, you know that. But you are right, and it seems that whoever possesses that chakra is coming this way."

"Who cares?" the third genin, a smug looking boy wearing a headpiece much like the Nidaime Hokage had, sneered. "I've had enough of these weaklings, maybe this new guy can give us a real fight."

"So you three were the ones who hurt my comrades?" a deep and dark voice asked from a thin mist that had blown over the bridge. From the mist walked Naruto, but this Naruto looked very little like the Naruto that Team 10 had known from the Academy. Naruto's eyes were now a deep red and his whisker-like birthmarks were now much darker, giving the blonde a feral look.

"Yeah, we are. So what?" the loud boy sneered. "All you Konoha kids are weak. These wannabe ninja couldn't even lay a hand on us."

"I see," Naruto growled. "Well maybe we can do better?"

"You and what army?"

"This army," another voice snarled. A strong breeze cleared away the thin mist to reveal a large amount of Naruto clones.

"What is this?" the mummified boy shouted.

"Your end," Naruto's lead clone growled. "Get them!"

The army of clones roared and charged at the arrogant Oto team.

"Look what you did Zaku," Kin cried as she rapidly tossed senbon after senbon into the charging horde of clones. But with each one that dispelled it seemed that two more clones would take its place. "You had to fool around with those weaklings, now we have to deal with this freak."

"I'd watch whom you are calling a freak," a deep voice growled behind her. Kin whirled around only to be backhanded aside. To her, it felt like she had been hit by an avalanche.

"One done," Naruto growled as he and his clones turned as one to face the other two Oto ninja. The mummy-looking one was watching him warily, while the other was grinning madly.

"Finally!" the grinning boy cried. "A real fight!"

"Zaku, we need to leave," the Kakashi-wannabe said. "We are no match for this boy. Grab Kin and let's go. This mission is over!"

"No way Dosu," Zaku argued. "I want to fight this guy, just because he took down Kin doesn't mean he can lay a finger on me."

"Zaku," Dose growled. "Our Lord said we were not to reveal too many of our abilities and even if we were able to defeat this boy, we would be showing too many of our skills to do so. Now grab Kin and let's go!"

"Tch, fine," Zaku grumbled. "**Decapitating Airwaves!**" The boy raised his arms and Naruto only had time to notice twin holes in the boy's palms before a dozen of his clones were blown away. By the time the clones had regained their bearings, the three ninja had vanished.

Meanwhile the original Naruto was quickly approaching the ice dome, he could still hear Sasuke fighting within the dome.

"You will not escape this jutsu Sasuke Uchiha," Haku's voice said from within the dome. "This is my most powerful jutsu, no one has ever escaped from my **Demonic Ice Mirrors**, not even Zabuza-sama."

Through the cracks in the dome, Naruto saw Sasuke staring toward the top of the dome. Looking up, Naruto saw Haku sticking out of one of the many mirrors, three senbon gripped in her hand.

"I do not like to kill," Haku admitted. "Zabuza-sama tells me that because of that weakness, I will never become a true shinobi. Well Sasuke Uchiha, you should be honored as you will be the one in which I harden my heart and became truly the weapon that my master deserves."

Haku sank back into the mirror and images of Haku appeared in every mirror. Naruto could see Sasuke trying to figure out which image was the real Haku. The Uchiha's eyes were darting between the mirrors looking for a target. Naruto frowned as he saw Sasuke's coal black eyes slowly bleed into red. '_The __**Sharingan**_,' Naruto realized.

In Naruto's stomach, the Kyubi stirred at its host's thought. With a growl, the legendary demon sent another wave of its potent chakra through the seal and into its host's chakra network.

Naruto gasped as he felt another fiery surge race through his body as more of the Kyubi's chakra flooded his body. The chakra seemed to have a mind of its own as it moved from all over his body and into his right hand. '_What's going on?_' Naruto thought. The red chakra was flickering like an open flame as it engulfed Naruto's right hand.

Naruto's attention was brought back to his teammate by Sasuke's cry of pain. Sasuke was yanking several senbon needles from his arms and had tossed them to the ground. Naruto would see that the Uchiha was quickly becoming overwhelmed by Haku's attacks.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted as Sasuke began slowing down, as evident by the fact that more and more senbon were finding spots in Sasuke's body. The blonde slammed his hand against the closest mirror. And was stunned when a spider web of cracks appeared on the mirror.

Both Sasuke and Haku turned toward the stunned blonde in shock. Haku felt a shiver of fear travel down her spine; no one had ever done what the strange blonde had just done. No one had ever managed one crack on her **Demonic Ice Mirrors**.

"Enough of this Haku!" Naruto shouted, punching the mirror again. Naruto felt the Kyubi's chakra travel down his hand and almost inject itself into the mirror. The mirror glowed a dull red as Haku's chakra valiantly tried to fight off the Kyubi's chakra but it was a futile effort. No human's chakra could match the corrosive power of a Biju's chakra. The mirror glowed brightly before it shattered into tiny pieces.

Haku winced as she felt the backlash of her mirror being destroyed, her chakra levels dropped noticeably before evening out.

"This way Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, urging his teammate to escape. Sasuke felt a twinge of anger at Naruto for calling for a retreat but both his sense of survival and his mind overrode his pride, and the Uchiha dashed toward the opening.

"You will not escape!" Haku cried as she sent dozens of senbon flying after Sasuke.

"**Shuriken Multiplication Jutsu!**" Naruto shouted, flinging his final two shuriken over Sasuke's head. The two shuriken became two dozen, knocking many of the senbon off course.

Sasuke grunted as he dove through the opening in the dome. Rolling to his feet, Sasuke wobbled as he noticed two senbon lodged in the back of his left knee. The knee buckled as he tried to put weight on it.

"Damnit," Sasuke cursed. "Dobe, my knee is messed up. I won't be able to move."

Naruto bit back a curse of his own. Haku's mirrors dissolved into puddles of water, and Zabuza's accomplice appeared, breathing heavily herself.

"Haku, its over," Naruto said, stepping in front of his teammate. "You can barely stand, and have no chance of beating us."

"Perhaps I can not defeat you," Haku admitted. "But I can still ensure that Zabuza-sama's mission is completed." The girl vanished in a burst of speed that stunned the two Konoha genin.

"Where'd she do?" Naruto cried, looking around for Haku.

"She said that she was going to complete Zabuza's mission," Sasuke said. "But that was…"

"Killing the bridge builder! Tazuna!" the two genin realized.

"Haku's going after Tazuna and Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted.

"Damnit I can't move," Sasuke snarled in frustration. "Naruto, you need to go! I'm stuck here, go protect Sakura and Tazuna!"

"But I'm out of chakra," Naruto admitted. "There's no way I could reach them in time."

"What about that red chakra you were using?" Sasuke asked. "Use that!"

Naruto paused, trying to come up with an excuse that would satisfy Sasuke. "I can't, the red chakra is just a hidden reserve," the blonde said. "And I've used it all up."

"But then…" Sasuke said though he trailed off.

'_Sakura-chan will die,_' Naruto realized. His thoughts turned inward, deep within his mind. '_Please, just give me some more,_' Naruto pleaded. '_Give me more power, I need more!_'

A deep, dark chuckle rolled through Naruto's head. '_**So you are now begging for my power then,**__' _the Kyubi growled. '_**So pathetic and weak.**_'

'_I want the power to protect my friends,_' Naruto said. '_I want the power to protect my home, to be the pillar of strength for my village!_'

'_**You want power?**__'_ the Kyubi snarled. '_**Very well human, you shall have power. Now let's see if you can handle it!**_'

A flood of white-hot chakra flooded Naruto's chakra network. The blonde howled as his body burned as if he had been dipped in hot lava.

'_No, I will not let you win!_' Naruto growled as he fought to swallow his screams. '_I will save my friends, and I will not succumb to you!_'

The Kyubi smiled widely as if faded back into the dark recesses of the seal. '_**We shall see brat,**_' the ancient fox commented. '_**Soon enough you'll come crawling back to me, begging for more of my power.**_'

Sasuke watched in growing amazement as his blonde teammate became engulfed in that cold, swirling red chakra. Naruto turned, and Sasuke fought to not tremble under Naruto's now blood red stare.

A scream brought Naruto's attention away from Sasuke, and the blonde vanished in a burst of speed. Sasuke finally released the breath that he hadn't known he was holding in, the feeling of death, decay and bloodlust lingered around Sasuke even after Naruto had vanished.

"Naruto, what are you?" Sasuke whispered as he struggled to his feet.

At the other end of the bridge, Tazuna and Sakura were standing a bit away from the battles. Sakura had a kunai out and held in a reverse grip, ready to protect herself and Tazuna. The aged bridge builder was terrified and a little bit angry at the fact that his only close protection was this little girl who had pink hair! What type of ninja had pink hair? Of course, Tazuna did not voice this thought, as after seeing what this girl would do, he was as scared of her as he was of the other ninja. Her traps were deadly.

"What is going on over there?" Sakura asked out loud. She and Tazuna had felt the cold and wildly destructive chakra wash over the bridge. Tazuna had fallen to his knees while Sakura's legs were trembling like leaves.

"We should leave," Tazuna suggested. "Did you not feel that wave of whatever it was? There is no way your friends are still alive if Gato has someone like that on his payroll!"

"I am not abandoning my team or my comrades," Sakura snapped. "There is no way Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun or Naruto would be killed so easily. We are risking our lives for you, the least you could do is to have a little faith in us!"

Tazuna looked down at the small girl before him, she had somehow mastered her legs as they had stopped trembling. The old man felt a wave of shame wash over him, the girl was right. These children were risking their lives for him, even though he had tricked them into helping him and his country.

"You should have run when you had the chance," a soft yet icy cold voice said. Sakura and Tazuna stiffened and slowly they saw a single figure step from the mist. It was the masked ninja that aided Zabuza.

"Stay behind me Tazuna," Sakura ordered. "I will not let her get by me, even if it costs me my life."

"Brave words girl," Haku said. "But your friends are dead, as you soon will be. But if you hand over the bridge builder to me, I will let you live."

A wave of fear and despair fell over Sakura like a tidal wave. "No, you're wrong," Sakura whispered. "Sasuke-kun and Naruto would not die so easily. You are lying!"

"Then why haven't they come here themselves?" Haku asked. "You are their teammate, so why aren't they here?"

Sakura had no answer for that. She just looked at Haku with wide eyes. "I don't know why they aren't here," she responded after a moment. "But I refuse to believe you, I have faith in Sasuke-kun and Naruto. And nothing you can say will change that!"

Beneath her mask, Haku smiled at the young girl's conviction and faith in her teammates. "Faith is naught but a fool's hope girl," Haku said. "It will not save you nor did it your teammates. Now let me show you how your teammates died."

Haku concentrated and the puddles around her glowed a bright white. Streams of water rose from the puddles and formed thin needles of ice. Sakura's heart froze at the sight.

"**Ice Release: Needle Barrage!**"

The dozens of needles sped through the air toward Sakura and Tazuna. The pair seemed frozen as certain death soared toward them.

"What!" Haku cried as the ice needles passed right through Tazuna and Sakura. The duo seemed to waver before fading away. "Genjutsu!" she cursed.

"Right," Sakura's voice said from behind Haku. "**False Surroundings** to be exact. It's a basic genjutsu, and one that costs only a little chakra but when used properly, it can be greatly effective."

Sakura kneeled down and cut a thin wire near her feet, setting off a trap that she had set up earlier. A dozen shuriken shot from the mist toward Haku, from all angles ensuring that there would be no escape.

Haku twisted her body around and flung the last of her senbon, deflecting all but two of the shuriken. The masked ninja gasped in pain as one shuriken clipped her upper arm while the other sliced through her leg, forcing Haku to the ground.

Sakura warily approached her downed opponent, a kunai poised to strike or defend. "Just give up," Sakura said. "You are out of chakra and you are wounded. I don't want to kill you, you are beaten."

"I will not fail Zabuza-sama!" Haku shouted. "**Ice Release: Glacial Spikes!**" Haku slammed her hand into a puddle and the water glowed brightly before spikes erupted from the puddles around Sakura.

The Konoha genin cried out in surprise and pain as a thin spike of ice shot from a puddle near her and pierced her left leg. Sakura screamed and fell to the ground, clutching her bleeding leg.

Both kunoichi froze as they felt an immense wave of power wash over them. It was the same power that had been felt earlier. Sakura looked up through tear-filled eyes to see a familiar figure appear in a blur in front of her.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked weakly.

The blonde figure turned, and Sakura's eyes widened when she realized that it was Naruto but something had happened to her teammate. His normally clear ocean blue eyes were a deep red and his whisker marks were much thicker and darker.

"Are you alright Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, his voice thick and gravely.

"I have an ice spike sticking out of my leg, how do you think I am doing?" Sakura snapped.

"Sorry Sakura-chan," Naruto said sheepishly. The blonde turned back to Haku. "That's both of my teammates you've hurt."

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"He's fine," Naruto assured his female teammate. "It looks like you don't have anymore chakra left Haku, please just give up."

"I will not," Haku growled as she forced herself to her feet. "I will not fail Zabuza-sama, I will not be a broken tool!"

Naruto flinched at Haku's admission of her viewing herself as nothing more than a weapon. "Haku, Zabuza is most likely dead," he said. "He can't beat Kakashi-sensei. And there is no way Aoi could beat Asuma-sensei, and those other ninja have run off. You have no help coming. And Gato is coming to betray you all."

"It does not matter Naruto-kun," Haku said. "I have pledged myself to assisting Zabuza-sama in his goals, and will gladly give my life to do so. And that means killing the bridge builder."

Naruto looked on with pained eyes as Haku channeled the remnants of her chakra into an ice kunai.

"Sakura, can I borrow a kunai?" Naruto asked. Sakura dug her final kunai from her pouch and tossed it to Naruto. As soon as he caught it, the blonde became engulfed in red chakra.

The two ninja raced toward each other and with a loud clang, their two weapons clashed. Sakura blearily saw Naruto and Haku standing, facing away from each other. A sound like glass breaking brought Sakura's attention to Haku. The ice kunai the girl held had shattered, Haku only held the handle.

Haku's body shuddered and she coughed. Blood splattered against the ground as blood flowed from her mouth.

Naruto coughed and felt some blood trickle out of his own mouth. Looking down, Naruto gave a pained grin seeing the thin ice spike sticking from his stomach. As the blonde looked on, the ice spike melted away into water.

A soft thud made Naruto turn around, and to his horror, he saw that Sakura had collapsed to the ground.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted as he limped rapidly to his downed teammate. When he got to her side, Naruto saw that her wounds were grievous but not immediately life threatening. Naruto silently thanked Kakashi for ensuring that his team knew basic first aid, field dressing and field knowledge of medicinal herbs. Sakura had taken to learning first aid like a fish to water, while Naruto struggled with it.

Digging through his equipment pouch, Naruto found the small first aid kit that each member of Team 7 carried with them. He ripped open the packaging that held the coagulating agent with his teeth and poured it over Sakura's leg.

Sakura hissed as the agent burned and attempted to harden the wound. Naruto unfurled a large roll of bandages and wrapped Sakura's leg tightly.

"You better be doing that right idiot," a low and pained growl came from above Naruto, causing the blonde to chuckle weakly.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, you beat this information into my head so deep that I could do this in my sleep," Naruto commented.

"Good," Sakura said weakly. "But if I lose my leg, I'm coming for your head…both of them."

Naruto fought to keep the fear from his face at Sakura's threat.

Footsteps heralded the approach of someone, and both Naruto and Sakura grabbed a kunai that Naruto had scoured up. A figure emerged from the mist.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried as the bruised and battered Uchiha appeared. Sakura tried to get to her feet but a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her attempt.

"Don't move Sakura-chan, your wounds could still open," Naruto said. Sakura pouted but ceased struggling.

Sasuke limped over to his teammates and paused when he noticed the still body of Haku behind them. "Is she?"

"Yes," Naruto said flatly. "How are you?"

"Fine," Sasuke grunted. "Where are the others?"

"Team 10 is somewhere over there," Naruto said, pointing over Sasuke's shoulders. "That other genin team ran off but they messed Team 10 up pretty well. I don't know about Kakashi-sensei or Asuma-sensei."

"We should meet up with Team 10 then," Sakura said. "If you are right, and Gato is planning on betraying Zabuza, we will need the numbers."

Naruto nodded. He helped Sakura to her feet, slinging one of her arms over his shoulders. Sasuke fell into step next to his teammates, his **Sharingan** active and searching for any movement. Tazuna was next to Sasuke, helping the Uchiha boy walk. Further down the bridge, Team 7 could hear the sounds of battle, the chirping of birds and smell the pungent odor of charred flesh.

"Ino, Choji, Shikamaru!" Sakura cried as Team 7 saw Team 10 huddled together against the railing of the bridge. Each of the three genin were wounded just as badly as Team 7 it seemed, their clothes and bodies were littered with cuts and bruises, and all three genin had dried blood below their ears.

"Are you guys alright?" Naruto asked.

Neither Ino nor Choji moved to answer; they both were clinging to each other and staring out across the bridge.

"We are not all right," Shikamaru spoke up. "But we will be."

"What happened?" Sakura asked. "You three were fighting against those unknown ninja, right?"

"Yes," Shikamaru answered. "They said they were from Oto, a new village that will quickly assert as the most powerful village in the world, or so they claim."

"What were their abilities?" Sasuke asked.

"Not now," a familiar voice said from behind Team 7.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Team 7 cried as their sensei appeared, a bloody slash across his chest.

"Where's Zabuza?" Naruto asked.

"Dead," Kakashi answered. "And your opponent?"

"Haku is dead, and those other three genin ran off," Sakura reported.

"What about Asuma-sensei?" Shikamaru asked.

"I'm here," Asuma said, appearing much like Kakashi had.

"Aoi?" Kakashi asked.

"Dead too."

"Did you recover the Sword of the Thunder God?" Naruto asked. Asuma nodded and showed Naruto the hilt of his great grandfather's sword.

"Well, well, well," a cruel voice shouted from the unfinished end of the bridge. The Konoha shinobi turned and saw a short, oily looking man with a cane standing there, with a large number of thugs behind him. "I must hand it to you Konoha ninja, you just saved me the risk of having these find gentlemen fight Zabuza and his brat. So much for the Demon of the Hidden Mist."

"Gato," Naruto snarled, recognizing the man from his clones' memories.

"While I must thank you for dealing with the trash," Gato said. "I can't afford to leave witnesses, so my friends will clean this up. Its just good business, you know? Finish them up but bring me the two girls. Young girls like them will most certainly fetch a pretty penny," he ordered with a nasty leer.

Naruto and Sasuke slid in front of their female teammate, and Naruto felt a pulse of anger deep in his stomach.

"Teme, do you have any shuriken left?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded and handed over his final three ninja stars to the blonde.

"What are you doing Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"I'm finishing this," Naruto answered. He felt deep within himself, scrounging up the very last dregs of his chakra. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" A dozen clones appeared around the Konoha ninja. The appearances of these clones caused the thugs to pause. Each of the clones held up the trio of shuriken.

"**Shuriken Multiplication Jutsu!**" Naruto and his clones shouted, tossing their shuriken. The shuriken multiplied into a spinning mass of flying metal, all the thugs could see were the rapidly approaching rain of deadly metal. Their screams sent shivers down the Konoha genins' spines as the shuriken pierced the bodies of the thugs. Only Gato was spared as he had been hiding at the back of the mob.

Naruto wavered, his body feeling completely drained. "That's all I've got," he mumbled, feeling the lack of chakra and his wounds catching up to him. As the blonde blacked out, Naruto could have sworn he heard Inari's voice.

**A/N: Well there you have it, the fifth chapter of this epic tale. Hope you all liked it, this was the first chapter I've ever written that was totally all battle scenes. I hope that I did at least a solid job and transitioning through the different fights. This chapter was a lot of fun to write but it was quite difficult because I wanted to make sure I did the fights in a realistic way. Let me know if I did a good job, or what I need to improve on. Also, keep voting on the poll about Sasuke's fate, I've got ideas floating around my head but I would like your input in deciding it. I'm probably going to have the poll up for a couple more chapters, so don't wait. Til next time,**

**SlytherinKnight**


	6. A Return Home and a New Test

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Naruto_, if I did, well let's just say that the final ten or so chapters wouldn't have been so rushed and perhaps we could have gotten some characters that didn't lose all their development from 15 YEARS of manga chapters in a single chapter. So once again, I don't own any recognizable characters, settings or jutsus from _Naruto_, they are all owned by Kishimoto.**

"And that's what happened Hokage-sama," Asuma finished. Teams 7 and 10, along with their senseis were in the Hokage's office. The leader of Team 10 had just completed the mission report to the Hokage.

"So in essence, you took an undertrained team of genin into a warzone," the Hokage said. "Instead of returning to the village, you put yourself, your genin and Team 7 at risk. What do you have to say for yourself?" The Hokage's voice never rose a decibel but the two jonin were on the verge of collapse from the weight of the Hokage's released chakra, the six genin had dropped to the floor of the office, as they couldn't withstand the pressure.

"I did not think that Gato had secured such a prominent missing ninja," Asuma said. "And I was confident that we could handle the mission, with sufficient backup."

"You didn't think things through, did you Jonin Sarutobi?" Hiruzen barked. "You put yourself and your charges in needless danger. What you should have done was come back to the village with Tazuna in tow, and then perhaps we could have worked out a solution to the Wave's problem. Only by the grace of Kami did you all come out of this alive and relatively unharmed. That is the only reason you won't be demoted to chunin, Asuma, as well as that this mission has wrought several boons to the village. Now leave, we will be having words later."

"Hokage-sama," Asuma said with a sharp bow. He and Team 10 left the office quickly and quietly. As soon as the door closed, Hiruzen dropped back into his chair, looking to all the world an old and tired man, not the foreboding and powerful Hokage or kindly grandfather figure that he was usually seen as.

"What am I going to do with that boy?" Hiruzen asked out loud. He then looked up at Team 7. "I am going to mark this mission as an A-rank in your profiles and you will be paid accordingly. Well done."

"Thank you Hokage-sama," Team 7 answered.

"You three are dismissed but Kakashi, I still need to speak with you," the Hokage said. The three genin bowed and left the office. "Now what aren't you and Asuma not telling me?"

"Naruto actively used the Kyubi's chakra," Kakashi said flatly.

The Hokage froze, his pipe nearly slipping from his fingers. He did?" Hiruzen asked. Kakashi nodded. "How is he handling it?"

"He seems to be ok," Kakashi answered. "He hasn't spoken about it but I sense no residual effects from Naruto using its chakra."

The Hokage lit his pipe with a low-powered **Fire Jutsu**, and puffed on it for a moment. "Keep any eye on Naruto," Hiruzen said. "Let me know immediately if he uses anymore of the Kyubi's chakra. I will send a summons to Jiraiya, telling him to return to the village but that might not be for some time. The Chunin Exams are being held in the village in two months time and many people will want to see the Last Uchiha participate, and of course people will quickly hear about the Great Naruto Bridge."

Kakashi fought, and failed, to keep the smile from his face. "Ah yes," Kakashi said. "So you wish for me to put forth my team for the Exams?"

"Of course not," the Hokage answered with a smile. "Only if you believe them to be ready."

"If they aren't ready in two months time, then I'm not doing my job as a sensei," Kakashi said.

"Kakashi, there are things moving in the shadows," the Hokage said. "I can feel it in my bones that we are quickly approaching the start of another conflict, one that will be nothing like we've ever seen. Konoha will need to flex its muscles once more, and your team will be the vanguard."

"Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked.

"Train them Kakashi," Hiruzen ordered. "Train them so they can be ready to waltz through these exams."

"Yes Hokage-sama," Kakashi saluted and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"Train them Kakashi, so that they become the sword and shield that Konoha needs," Hiruzen said to his now-empty office.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Team 7 found a peculiar and frightening sight waiting for them at Training Ground 3. Kakashi was waiting for them.<p>

"Ma, ma, before you three all lose it let me explain," Kakashi said. "The Hokage has ordered me to get you three ready for the Chunin Exams, which are being held here in two months. The Hokage believes that you three have the potential to be the next great group of Konoha shinobi, but you still need a lot of work. So for the next month, we will not be taking any missions but training. And when I'm through with you, you three will be able to breeze through the exams. After that month, I'll see about getting a mission or two."

"All right!" Naruto cried, jumping into the air. Sasuke and Sakura smiled at their blonde teammate's enthusiasm.

"Don't think this will be fun," Kakashi said. "I will be running you all into the ground this month. So be prepared to say your prayers because your asses are mine. Let's get started!"

* * *

><p>"All right you three that's enough for today," Kakashi shouted. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke all stopped their individual workouts and turned toward their sensei. "Come over here, I have something for you."<p>

The three genin jogged over, letting Kakashi get a good look at them. The jonin had a hidden grin under his mask as he looked at his team. They had really grown in the past two months; each of the genin were now what Kakashi called, 'The Terrible Terrors'. Sasuke was the most well balanced of the group; his ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu all high-genin or low-chunin level and with his **Sharingan**, he could see things before the others.

Sakura was the weakest of the trio but she had made enormous strides in the last two months. When she had left the Academy, her chakra levels were pathetic, barely that of a first year Academy student. In the little over two months, her chakra levels had ballooned to that of an average genin and coupled with her near-perfect chakra control made her the perfect genjutsu support for the two powerhouses, Naruto and Sasuke. And Sakura's near-perfect recall made her dabbles into traps and fuinjutsu a very successful venture as well, expanding her burgeoning skillset.

Sasuke's chakra levels had grown as well in the time since graduation but the growth was not as drastic as Sakura's. His control over his chakra had grown as well. He could now use the **Great Fireball Jutsu** four times in rapid succession without exhausting his chakra. The Uchiha also added the **Dragon Flame Jutsu**, the **Shuriken Multiplication Jutsu** and he was now able to his **Sharingan** to place the **Hypnotic Eye **genjutsu on his opponents.

Naruto's reserves had changed very little, they were already possibly the largest in the village but his control was now much improved. He would never gain the control that Sakura or even Sasuke had but now Naruto would only waste minimal chakra when using jutsus. Kakashi had introduced Naruto to fuinjutsu, after telling the blonde that the Yondaime Hokage was a master of fuinjutsu, and that it would really work with his prankster nature. Kakashi had both Sakura and Naruto start learning fuinjutsu by copying already created seals such as explosive notes or weight seals, once their handwriting was at a high enough level.

Kakashi had also shown each of his genin their elemental affinities, and was quite surprised to see that between the three genin, Team 7 covered all five elements. Sasuke had a Lightning primary affinity with a Fire secondary affinity. Naruto had a Wind primary with a Water secondary, while Sakura had an Earth affinity. In an effort to stop the genins' pleadings, Kakashi had given each of the genin a low-ranked jutsu attuned to their elements.

Sasuke got **Lightning Release: Static Wave** and **Fire Release: Dragon Flame**. Sakura got **Earth Release: Earth Barrier Wall**, and Naruto got **Wind Release: Great Breakthrough** and **Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu**. When Naruto saw he had a Water affinity, the blonde begged Kakashi to teach him the **Hidden Mist Jutsu** after seeing it on their mission to the Wave. He told Kakashi that it would be a perfect covering jutsu for a retreat, and even if the air wasn't very moisture-rich, with his chakra levels, it wouldn't be much of a problem to convert his chakra into the mist needed.

"What have you got for us sensei?" Naruto asked.

"What I have you ask," Kakashi said. "Why, I have the application forms you have need to turn in in order to participate in the Chunin Exams."

"All right!" Naruto cried as he took the paper from Kakashi. "We are so going to own these exams, right guys?"

Sasuke grunted his agreement while Sakura was looking over the form. "Are you sure we're ready sensei? I mean we only graduated less than six months ago, shouldn't we wait?"

Naruto and Sasuke looked at their female teammate with hurt and betrayed expressions.

"Now, now, let's hear what Sakura-chan has to say," Kakashi said, noticing the two boys' looks. "I am sure that Sakura-chan has her reasons."

"Fine," Naruto said. Sasuke just crossed his arms and stared at Sakura.

The pink-haired teenage swallowed to gather her thoughts. "Well the Chunin Exams are open to any genin who are nominated by their sensei, and have completed a certain amount of missions," Sakura began. "So it is reasonable to assume that some teams will be much older and more experienced than us."

"Maybe," Sasuke interrupted. "But if they are a lot older than us but haven't been promoted yet, that just means they are weak."

Sakura nodded. "That might be true," she said, conceding Sasuke's point. "But there will also be teams that were held out to get more experience. From what I've read, the Exams are held every six months. So why don't we wait until the next Exams when we have six more months of experience."

"That is quite true Sakura-chan," Kakashi said. "You are correct that the Chunin Exams are held every six months but they also rotate between the villages. The next time the Exams are being held in Konoha or Suna, will be in nearly two years. We normally don't send new genin teams to the other villages' Exams because the Exams are very dangerous and there will be deaths. At least here in the village, we can 'protect' you as much as possible."

"Protect us?" Naruto asked.

"The Chunin Exams are not to be taken lightly, even in your own village," Kakashi said. "But especially in an enemy village. In other village, they won't hesitate to give their genin a home-field advantage."

"What do you mean home-field advantage sensei?" Sakura asked.

"It can mean whatever you want it to mean," Kakashi said. "It's probably different in each of the villages but most likely, the local genin will have some intel on what the exams will be about, sometimes teams aren't given timely medical treatment, etc. Whatever they can to gain an edge."

Sakura paled.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, the Exams are here in the village and we are so ready," Naruto said confidently. We've been training our butts off for the last two months, we are ready."

"I don't know," Sakura admitted. "Naruto, you and Sasuke-kun have gotten as much stronger since we graduated but I just think I've been standing still."

"That's not true Sakura-chan," Naruto said. "You are plenty strong. You are the smartest kunoichi in the village, you are a brilliant trap maker and you can put a genjutsu on almost anybody."

Sakura had to look away to hide the embarrassed blush that Naruto's words had caused. When she looked back, Sakura froze when she caught eyes with Sasuke. "Naruto is correct," Sasuke said. "You have grown stronger."

Sakura's heart swelled at her crush's words. "Thank you Sasuke-kun, and you too Naruto," she said. "But I still don't know about the Exams."

"Sakura, I would not nominate you three if I didn't feel you were ready," Kakashi reassured. "Just treat the Exams as a mission, and you three will be fine. Now, you all must have these forms filled out and be at room 301 of the Academy at 3pm tomorrow afternoon. Later!"

Team 7 watched as their sensei vanished in his customary puff of smoke.

"So now what do you guys want to do?" Naruto asked. "Should we, I don't know, go over what we will need for the exams?"

"Just bring everything we would need for a B-rank mission," Sasuke said. "See you tomorrow."

The Uchiha heir leapt off toward his apartment, leaving his two teammates standing on the bridge alone.

"Hey Sakura-chan, I was going to get some Ichiraku's before heading home, want to join me?" Naruto asked.

"Sorry Naruto, I told me parents that I would come right home after training," she answered.

"Ok then," Naruto said. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Bye Naruto," Sakura called as she headed toward her home. Naruto gave a half-hearted wave to his teammate before turning toward his own path home.

'_**Why do you constantly attempt to woo that pink-haired weakling?**_' the deep, growling voice of the Kyubi asked from within Naruto's mind. The first time the fox had spoken to Naruto without the blonde entering his mind had nearly sent Naruto into hysterics. When Naruto finally calmed down, the fox explained that Naruto's use of the Kyubi's chakra in the Wave had opened a link between the pair, enabling the fox to communicate with Naruto when it wanted too.

'_Sakura-chan isn't weak!_' Naruto growled. '_She has always been stronger than she thinks. She was the only civilian-born to graduate from the Academy._'

'_**Please, your Academy is pathetic**__,_' the fox snarled. '_**When I was stuck in your…my previous container, their standards were much higher. None of your precious classmates would have passed back then**__._'

'_Whatever fox, it's not like you ever strove for recognition from someone,_' Naruto grumbled.

'_**Do not think you know me brat!**_' the fox roared, making Naruto wince.

'_What was that for fox?_' Naruto barked but the ancient demon did not answer leaving Naruto to stew in his confusion.

* * *

><p>The next morning found Naruto in front of the Memorial Stone, staring at one name in particular; Tobirama Senju.<p>

"Hey there Grandpa," Naruto said lowly. "Today I'm taking the Chunin Exams, I know it seems that I'm young but Kakashi-sensei believes that we are ready. Sakura-chan didn't know if she was ready, she thinks that she is too weak and will just hold us back. But I think she's the strongest out of us all, I mean she doesn't have a bloodline or some furball sealed inside her to fall back on. Sakura-chan has worked for everything she's gained, and had nothing handed to her. That to me means she is truly strong. Anyway, did you feel nervous before your first Chunin Exam? What am I talking about, of course not, you became Hokage, you probably weren't afraid of anything."

The sound of a snapping twig made Naruto's head whip around.

"Who's there?" he asked. A soft gasp from behind a tree allowed Naruto to zero in on a tall oak tree about twenty meters away.

"Are you have to pay your respects as well?" Naruto asked as he walked around the tree to find a vaguely familiar face, a girl about his age with navy blue hair and milky white eyes. She wore a light gray jacket and blue pants and had her headband around her neck.

"Hey, you are that Hyuga girl from the Academy, right?" Naruto asked. "Hina…something, right?"

"Hinata, I am Hinata Hyuga," Hinata stammered.

"That's right Hinata," Naruto snapped his fingers. "So what are you doing here Hinata? Do you know someone on the Stone?"

"No, no, I was on my way to the Academy and I saw you standing there," Hinata said.

"Oh you are going to the Academy," Naruto said. "Me too. Are you taking the Chunin Exams?"

"Yes," Hinata whispered. "My sensei nominated us from the exams but I don't think I am ready."

"Why not?" Naruto asked, his face scrunching up in confusion.

"I am not strong enough," Hinata admitted. "I am afraid that I will just drag Kiba-kun and Shino-kun down, I don't want to let them down."

"Don't worry so much Hinata," Naruto said. "If you don't believe in yourself then you will never get stronger. If you don't at least try, then you will never know if you can do it."

"But what if I fail? I don't think I could handle letting down Kiba-kun and Shino-kun," Hinata said.

"Well if you fail, then try again," Naruto said. "I mean I failed the graduation exam three times, and that didn't stop me. You can't be afraid of failing; if you are then you'll never get stronger. And besides, if I got everything right the first time then I would probably get all stuck up and arrogant like Sasuke.

Hinata giggled but quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. "I shouldn't have laughed like that," she said through her hands.

"Ah don't worry about it Hinata," Naruto laughed. "The bastard knows I don't mean anything by it. And besides, someone needs to deflate his big head. Look Hinata, so what if you are scared, if you don't face your fears then you will always be weak."

Hinata looked down, her mind thinking that her crush thought she was weak.

"Now don't go doing that Hinata," Naruto said, noticing the girl's mood had dropped. "Keep your head up, never look back. You can't change the past, only the future. And can I tell you a secret Hinata?"

"Of course you can Naruto-kun," Hinata said quickly. "You can tell me anything."

"I'm scared too," Naruto admitted. "I'm afraid that I'll let down my teammates too."

"But, but, Naruto-kun, you are so strong," Hinata claimed. "You always act so happy, you never give up no matter what is thrown at you. You've always been an inspiration to me, when I watch you always get back up, I sometimes feel like I can be stronger."

Naruto blinked. Then a soft blush came across Naruto's face, as he rubbed the back of his head. "Wow," Naruto said. "I don't really know what to say Hinata. No one has ever told me that I was the source of his or her strength, I'm flattered. But I don't think you relying on me to be your pillar of strength is a very good idea."

"Why not?" Hinata stammered, her white eyes wide.

"Well, relying on someone else to give you strength is only good if you are surrounded by those people," Naruto said. "What if you are alone? You need to be able to rely on yourself, on your own strength at times. Sometimes you will be in a fight that no one can help you, you have to rely on your strength to win."

"But…"

"Hinata, I'm not saying you taking strength from me is a bad thing," Naruto said quickly. "But you need to find a reason to become strong. At first, all I wanted to become strong was to be recognized and looked at. But I found out that was a selfish and terrible reason to become strong, I didn't care how I was recognized or looked. It wasn't until the night of the Academy exams that I found my reason to become strong."

"And what is it Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked softly.

"To become the main pillar of strength for the village," Naruto said with a wide smile. "To be the one that protects this village, and takes on the burdens that others can't. You need to find your own path Hinata, don't just follow someone in hopes of getting parts of their strength, find that one way and I hope that I'll be there to see it."

"There you are Hinata!"

Hinata and Naruto turned to see Hinata's teammates, Kiba Inuzaka and Shino Aburame, approaching the Memorial Stone.

"Kiba-kun, Shino-kun," Hinata stammered.

"What are you two doing here?" Kiba asked bluntly.

"I was paying respects to Konoha's heroes," Naruto said. "Hinata was passing by and we started talking. What of it Kiba?"

"Whoa there Naruto," Kiba said. "Just asking, no need to get defensive. Unless you two were doing more than talking," he added with a strange gleam in his eye. Hinata 'eeped' and blushed heavily.

"Of course we were just talking," Naruto said. "What else would we be doing?"

Kiba just shook his head.

"We should continue moving," Shino said, speaking for the first time. "We do not want to be late for the exams."

"That's right, you guys are taking the Chunin Exams too," Naruto said. "Sakura-chan and Sasuke are probably waiting for me."

"You're taking the Chunin Exams? Ha," Kiba laughed. "There's no way you'll pass, you failed the Academy exam three times, and now you think you'll pass these?"

"I am a lot stronger than I was in the Academy," Naruto growled. "Just you watch Kiba, I'll be a Chunin way before you will."

"Yeah right dead last," Kiba mocked.

"Don't fight Naruto-kun, Kiba-kun," Hinata tried to interject but the two hotheaded boys ignored her.

"Whatever Kiba," Naruto said. "Just watch. I gotta go, Sakura-chan and Sasuke waiting for me. See you guys later, bye Hinata."

Naruto turned and walked off leaving Team 8 staring after him.

"Kiba-san, Hinata-san, did you guys notice that Naruto-san was wearing something other than that nasty orange jumpsuits?" Shino asked. Both Kiba and Hinata blinked and then nodded slowly.

* * *

><p>"Naruto! Where have you been?" Sakura screamed. "We were supposed to meet here 15 minutes ago!"<p>

"Sorry Sakura-chan, I was paying my respects at the Memorial Stone and then I ran into Hinata and Team 8," Naruto said.

"Li…wait, that actually makes sense," Sakura said.

"Of course it does, what do you think I would make up excuses like Kakashi-sensei does?" Naruto asked. Sakura blushed. "Aw Sakura-chan," Naruto whined.

"It doesn't matter you two," Sasuke said. "We need to go or we'll be late."

"Right," Naruto and Sakura said, falling into flanking positions.

"What were you talking to Team 8 about, Naruto?" Sakura asked as Team 7 approached the Academy.

"Oh right," Naruto said. "Well, Hinata told me that I was the source of her strength and then I said that she had it wrong."

"Naruto! How could you say something so tactless?" Sakura scolded. "Hinata poured her heart out to you, and you just stomped on it like mud."

"What?" Naruto gasped. "I just told her that relying on me to give her strength is not the way to go. She needs to find her own path to strength, not rely on someone else giving it to her."

Sakura blinked. She hadn't expected such a mature answer from Naruto. "All right Naruto, but you better not have hurt Hinata," Sakura warned. "She is a sweet girl and doesn't deserve that."

"I know that," Naruto said. "I would never do that."

"Enough talking, we're here," Sasuke said. They had reached the Academy.

"This brings back memories, doesn't it?" Naruto asked as Team 7 entered the Academy.

"Yeah it does," Sakura agreed. Sasuke grunted his own agreement.

"What the?" Naruto asked as Team 7 came upon a peculiar scene. The hallway in front of them was packed with other genin. The door to classroom 301 was being guarded by two older looking genin.

"Look brats, we are doing you all a favor," the older genin with bandages across his nose. "We have taken and failed these exams the last two times, so we know who are Chunin material. And none of you come close."

"Please sir, you have to let us pass," a bun-haired girl pleaded. The girl seemed familiar to Naruto; he knew that he had seen her before.

"Wait, didn't we only go up one flight of stairs?" Sakura whispered. Naruto and Sasuke blinked and looked back down the hallway.

"They must have put a genjutsu on the door," Sasuke realized.

"Nice catch Sakura-chan," Naruto praised. "So what should we do?"

"Just keep moving," Sasuke said. "There must be a reason they put it up, and I'll wager that it is supposed to be some sort of pre-test. If they can't see through such a low-level genjutsu, then they don't deserve to become a chunin."

"Like us Sasuke," Naruto chuckled. "If Sakura-chan hadn't noticed it, then where would we be?"

"Speak for yourself," Sasuke grumbled. "Let's just keep moving."

Team 7 began making their way down the hallway when a voice called out, "Where are you three going?"

Team 7 turned to see the other older genin looking them.

"Giving up already?" the bandaged genin smirked. "You know the exit is the other way."

"We're not giving up," Naruto snapped. "We're just going to the real exam room."

"Real exam room?" a female genin wearing a headband with four wavy lines on it said.

"Didn't anyone else realize that we only went up one flight of stairs?" Sakura asked. "This is only the second floor."

"Drop the genjutsu too," Sasuke said.

"So you noticed then?" the older genin grinned. The classroom sign wavered for a second and then the number changed from 301 to 201.

"In these exams, you will be faced with a lot of unknown situations," the scarred genin said. "You need to be always on guard, especially when in another village. Chunins are team leaders, and must always look underneath the underneath."

"So its not just Kakashi-sensei who says that?" Naruto commented.

"Come on you two," Sasuke said. "We have a test to dominate."

"So that's Kakashi's team? They look ready," the scarred genin said.

"These exams sure will be interesting," his partner said.

"Sasuke Uchiha!" a loud voice shouted. Team 7 turned and saw a boy their age but wearing a green spandex jumpsuit and orange leg warmers.

"Whoa!" Naruto said. "That's one weird outfit."

"Coming from someone who used to wear a bright orange jumpsuit, that's a bit hypocritical," Sakura said blandly.

"Hey, I got rid of my jumpsuit, didn't I?" Naruto pouted.

"I guess that's true," Sakura admitted. Naruto did look a lot more ninja-like now. The blonde was now wearing dark blue cargo pants that were taped at his ankles. He also wore a dark orange long-sleeved shirt with a sleeveless dark green hooded jacket over it.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked the newcomer.

"I am here to challenge you," the boy announced. "I am Rock Lee, and I want to challenge the Uchiha genius. I am the strongest genin in the village, and I want to see how you measure up."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the challenge.

"Sasuke, we don't have time for this," Naruto said. "We don't know what the exams are going to be like, and if you get hurt, we all might fail. I'll bet you'll get to fight this guy during the exam, let's just keep moving."

Sasuke looked like he wanted to shoot down Naruto's suggestion but his common sense kicked in before his pride could. "Fine," he grumbled. "My teammate is right. There will be opportunities later in the Exams, so we will settle this then."

"Very well then Sasuke Uchiha," Rock Lee said with a blinding smile. "And you must be the lovely Sakura Haruno. Please be my girlfriend?"

"No way!" Sakura cried. "I would never date someone like you!"

Lee's head dropped to his chest at Sakura' vehement denial.

"Come on, its almost three," Naruto said. "We don't want to be late."

Team 7 turned from Lee and made their way out of the presentation hall and up the second flight of stairs.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Team 7 gasped when they saw their sensei leaning against the wall next to the door to the exam room.

"Yo you three," Kakashi said looking up from his book. "Glad to see you all made it."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Well, this exam is a team exam," Kakashi said. "So unless all three of you showed up, I would have to bar the others from entering."

"Then why didn't you tell us that?" Sakura asked.

"If I had, then you would have pressured each other into participating," Kakashi explained. "Now before you go in there, remember you three are stronger together than you apart. And look underneath…"

"The underneath," Team 7 finished in unison.

"Don't worry sensei, we won't let you down," Naruto promised.

"I know you three won't," Kakashi said. "Good luck."

"Let's kickass!" Naruto cried as he kicked open the door.

**A/N: Well there you have it, the newest chapter of _Naruto:Hidden Legacy_, hope you all liked it. I've introduced some new(old) characters into the story. The main problem that I've always had with Naruto/Hinata is that lack of Hinata's character development. There is so little that we see or know about Hinata, one of my favorite scenes between Naruto and Hinata was when they ran into each other before Naruto's fight against Neji. Really wish that Kishimoto had expanded on those brief scenes to give us more interaction between the two. **

**A/N 2: _Naruto: The Last_ has come out in Japan, I'm in the US, so while I haven't seen it yet, I have been looking around the Internet and so far the reviews I've seen haven't been very good. Most people are claiming that while the movie has made quite a bit of money, the film is the lowest rated Naruto movie. Many reviews that I've seen say that the film is too much of a love story, the characterization for many of the characters really went to s**t. Again, I have not seen the film yet so I can't say these things for sure. I will see the film whenever it becomes available in the US and then make my final decision but it doesn't look good. Til next time,**

**SlytherinKnight**


	7. I hate Exams!

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ doesn't belong to me, it all belongs to Kishimoto. If it had, the manga would have ended very differently, and there wouldn't be a final movie that seems to be just a money grab rather than a furthering of the series.**

"Whoa!" Naruto gaped as Team 7 entered the examination room. It was packed nearly wall to wall with genin teams, and all of them were now staring right at Team 7.

"There's a lot of people here," Sakura said.

"Good, that means there should be a lot of strong opponents," Sasuke said, looking around the room.

"Sasuke-kun!" Team 7 cringed at the loud voice of Ino Yamanaka. The longhaired blonde kunoichi came barreling through the crowd and latched onto the back of Sasuke. Her teammates, Shikamaru and Choji, trailed behind her at a more sedate pace.

"So you guys are here too?" Shikamaru asked. "Troublesome."

"Of course we are," Naruto said. "Did you really think we would miss this?"

"You are still the same Naruto," Shikamaru shook his head. "This isn't a party or a game Naruto."

"I know that Shikamaru," Naruto retorted, his face turning serious. "But I'm excited. I get to test myself against the best of the best."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled.

"Looks like everyone is here," a new voice barked. It was Kiba and Team 8.

"It seems so," Sasuke said. "I guess they'll let anyone enter these exams, pity, I was hoping that they would weed out the weaklings," taunted.

"What did you say?" Kiba growled.

"You should keep it down over there," another new voice said. The young genin turned to see a taller teen with grayish hair and glasses walking up to them. The teen also wore a Konoha headband.

"Who are you?" Kiba asked gruffly.

"Lower the hackles," the teen chided with a disarming grin. "My name is Kabuto Yakushi, and I'm a Konoha genin just like you, just a bit older."

"I don't recognize you from the Academy," Naruto said. "How long have you been a ninja?"

"I graduated about five years ago now," Kabuto replied. "In fact, this will be my seventh time taking the Chunin Exams."

"Wow, you must suck then," Kiba laughed.

"Or these exams are much harder than you think they are Kiba," Shikamaru warned.

"Kabuto-san, if this will be your seventh time taking the exams, you can tell us what they are like, right?" Ino asked.

Kabuto chuckled. "Actually I can't," he said. "You see the Exams aren't always held here in Konoha, and they change things up to make sure people like me can't tell the newbies what to expect. This is only the second time I've taken the Exams in Konoha, and the first time was three years ago, so I am sure they've changed things up since then."

"Can you tell us anything?" Shikamaru asked.

"Not about the exams themselves," Kabuto said. "But with my nin-info cards, I can tell you about the major players in these exams."

"Nin-info cards?" Sasuke asked. Kabuto smiled as he pulled out a deck of cards. "They are blank."

"They respond only to my chakra," Kabuto answered somewhat smugly. He selected a single card and held it between two fingers. The card glowed blue. "Sasuke Uchiha, age 12, 5'3", and 129lbs. Graduated from Konoha's Academy this year as the Rookie of the Year, and now under the command of Kakashi Hatake, the **Copy-Cat Ninja**, along with Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki. Recently activated the Uchiha bloodline, the **Sharingan**. Mission stats: 23 D-ranks, 2 C-ranks and 1 A-rank missions. Wow, an A-rank mission as a rookie genin, impressive."

Team 8, who didn't know about Team 7's back up of Team 10 in the Wave, looked stunned and impressed.

"You guys went on an A-rank mission already!" Kiba cried.

"That's quite specific information you have there Kabuto," Naruto said. Alarm bells were blaring in his head. Being the subject of an SS-rank secret, and after meeting Tobirama Senju, made Naruto realize the value of information and its uses.

"I pride myself on knowing all that I can about my opponents," Kabuto answered with a smile.

"And your allies, I gather," Naruto fired back. "You just gave out information on a fellow Konoha shinobi in a room full of potential enemies."

"The information was nothing more than what you would find on Sasuke's registration card or a bingo book entry," Kabuto answered easily. "I have yours here too Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto looked up, directly into the dark, glinting eyes of the older, taller genin. The blonde could see the amusement in Kabuto's eyes, his instincts were screaming at Naruto that this teen was bad news.

"Go ahead Kabuto," Naruto challenged. "Read my card."

Kabuto arched an eyebrow at Naruto's challenge. "All right Naruto-kun, if you insist," he grinned. Kabuto pulled out another card and channeled some chakra into it. "Naruto Uzumaki, age 12, 5'1", 118lbs. Failed the Konoha Academy graduation exam three times before being granted an exemption by the Hokage after learning the **Shadow Clone Jutsu** in a single night. On the same team, Team 7, as Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno under the command of Kakashi Hatake. Mission stats: 23 D-ranks, 2 C-ranks, and 1 A-rank, oh and here's an interesting note, Naruto was born on the same night as the Kyubi attack twelve years ago."

"Everyone already knows that Naruto was born at the same time as the Kyubi attack," Kiba said. "Tell us something we don't know."

"Well, I suppose," Kabuto said with a sly smile. "It seems that Naruto is a surviving member of the Uzumaki clan."

"Clan? What Uzumaki Clan?" Sakura asked. Naruto frowned.

"The Uzumaki Clan was once the ruling clan of the Village Hidden by Whirlpools," Kabuto explained.

"Once?" Sasuke asked.

"The village and clan was attacked near the end of the Second Shinobi War," Kabuto explained. "The Rock, Cloud and Mist villages gathered together and nearly wiped the village off the face of the planet. The clan's survivors were scattered to the winds. The Uzumaki Clan were well known for their mastery of fuinjutsu, and it is thought that was the reason the clan and village was attacked."

"Where did you find that out?" Naruto asked. "The Hokage never told me that I was part of a clan."

"Around," Kabuto chuckled. "A good ninja never revels his tricks."

Naruto opened his mouth to continue questioning Kabuto but was interrupted when there came several explosions of smoke at the front of the examination room. The group turned to see at least two dozen gray-uniformed Konoha shinobi appear, all flanking a giant of a man.

"Silence you maggots!" the man roared. "If you aren't in a seat in five seconds, you will be disqualified! One…"

There was a mass scramble for seats as everyone raced for a chair.

"Hey! There aren't enough seats!" a genin shouted.

"It seems so," the man grinned darkly, letting the room know that he knew that there wasn't enough. "Anyone not in a seat, and their teammates, automatically fail! Now get out! NOW!" the man roared as the stragglers made to argue. They were then escorted out of the room.

"Now then," the man said. "I am Ibiki Morino, and I am the proctor for the first exam. Before we begin there are a couple of ground rules that we have to go over. First, there will be no talking; anyone who talks out of turn will fail instantly. Second, if you fail, then your team fails as well, no exceptions. Third, this exam will last one hour and not a minute longer. Now the other proctors will hand out the test, there are ten questions, nine on your test sheet, and one not. The tenth and final question will be reveled at the fifty minute mark of the exam."

"Now, you begin with ten points, one for each question," Ibiki explained. "If you get a question wrong, you lose one point, answer all ten questions incorrectly, you fail. And if you fail, your team fails with you. You'll also notice that the other proctors have taken seats around the room. They are there to catch anyone dumb enough to try and cheat; they have been trained specifically to catch anyone trying to cheat. For each time you are caught trying to cheat, you will lose two points, if you are caught cheating five times, you will lose all ten points and you will fail, and so will your teammates."

Naruto paled as Ibiki finished explaining the rules. '_Oh crap, Sakura-chan and Sasuke are going to kill me,_' Naruto thought. '_I suck at taking tests!_'

Ibiki's smile broadened at the looks of horror coming from the genin in front of him. "In this room, you are all mine to do with as I please," Ibiki said. "I am your Lord and Master in this room. You have one hour to impress me, begin!"

There was a rustling of paper as the genin turned over their exams for the first time. Naruto's eyes widened as he took in the exam questions.

'_What the hell! I can't answer any of these questions!'_ Naruto realized. '_These questions are way too hard for anyone to answer, except maybe Sakura-chan. What are these guys playing at?_'

Naruto glanced around the room, seeing that most of the test takers were in a very similar state as himself, chewing on their pencils, nervously glancing around the room or staring blankly at the test in front of them as if praying that the paper would hand over its secrets. Around the edge of the room, the other proctors were watching and scribbling away on clipboards.

Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes to try and calm himself. '_The proctor said that we start with 10 points, for every wrong answer we would lose one point,_' he thought, recalling Ibiki's explanation of the exam. '_He also said that if we were caught cheating, we would lose two points. Why would we only lose two points if were caught? In the Academy, if we cheated we would fail instantly. So why are they giving us chances to cheat and not fail?_'

Naruto opened his eyes and looked around the room once more. To his left, he saw Hinata with her eyes staring straight ahead, the veins around her eyes bulging. '_She's cheating!_' Naruto realized. '_That's it! The point is to cheat but not get caught! That's why they gave us five chances, for most ninja stealing information is very hard even more so for genin. So how can I get the answers without getting caught?_'

Naruto mentally reviewed the techniques he had learned, and came up with nothing. '_Damnit, I don't have any jutsus that would help me steal the answers without getting caught,_' he thought. '_Wait! I have five chances to get caught before failing! As long as I don't get caught five times, I won't fail and get kicked out. But how do I pull this off?_'

Naruto scanned the room, looking for a target. The prankster part of his mind had taken over. '_Bingo!_' Naruto thought, zeroing in on a taller genin with spiky brown hair two rows in front of him. The older boy was rapidly moving his pencil across his paper, and from what Naruto could see of his face, was smirking proudly. '_I have to time this just right. If I move too soon, he'll notice and I'll be screwed. I have to wait until just before the tenth question is given. So that gives me a little over thirty minutes now. And I'll need all that time to make this work, I've never performed the _**Hidden Mist Jutsu**_ without water nearby, but the books said that Grandpa could perform _**Water Jutsus**_ by using the moisture in the air, though for someone without a high _**Water** _affinity this was really risky. Unless they have huge chakra reserves, and I've got chakra in spades._'

The minutes ticked by, inching closer and closer to the fifty-minute mark and the giving of the tenth question. Every so often, one of the proctors would pick out a genin who they had caught cheating five times and throw them and their teammates out of the room. The exam room was quickly being whittled down. The room that had been once packed wall to wall now held less than 50 genin.

Naruto glanced up at the clock. '_It's time,_' he thought. With a deep breath, Naruto closed his eyes and focused on converting his chakra into a thick mist that would shroud the exam room.

"What the!" Naruto heard someone cry out. He cracked open one eye and saw that the classroom was rapidly filling up with mist. Naruto quickly summoned a **Shadow Clone** that grabbed its target's exam sheet and replaced it with itself.

"Get this mist out of here!" Ibiki shouted. "Open the damn windows!"

Naruto heard the windows being thrown open and the mist was rapidly dispersing. With a sigh, Naruto released the **Hidden Mist Jutsu** and sat back in his seat, trying to look confused.

"When I find out who did that they will regret it," Ibiki growled. "They'll wish that they had never been born."

Naruto fought to keep the smug grin off his face as Ibiki scanned the room. The tall man glanced at the clock.

"Looks like its time to announced the 10th and final question," Ibiki said. "But first, a couple of rules."

"More rules?" a genin from Ame shouted.

"Did I say you could speak yet?" Ibiki growled, pinning the genin with a hard glare. "Number 83, you fail, you and your teammates can get out."

"What! You can't do that!"

"Watch me!" Ibiki snarled. An enormous pressure settled over the room, it became almost impossible to breathe. "Get out!"

The three Ame genin scrambled from their seats and raced from the room. Once the door had finished swinging shut, the pressure vanished.

"Good, now where was I?" Ibiki mused. "Ah right, new rules. First before you all instantly decide to leap before looking, know this, if you decide to take the question and get it wrong, you will be banned from taking the Chunin Exams ever again."

"You can't do that!" Kiba shouted. "There are others here who have taken the Exams before this year!"

"True but I wasn't their proctor," Ibiki said. "Unlucky for you. Oh and I guess it isn't just Ame genin that don't know how to listen, Number 57 you and your team are eliminated!"

"What?" Kiba cried. "You can't do that!"

"Of course I can," Ibiki growled. "What, just because you are a fellow Konoha shinobi you were safe from being eliminated. Tough, you didn't heed the lessons from the others failures. That right there tells me you are not Chunin material. Now get out before I throw you out."

Kiba looked at Ibiki, a furious scowl set of the boy's face.

"Kiba, that's enough," Shino said. "You have spoken enough. We are eliminated; there is nothing more we can do. Why? Because those are the rules."

Kiba's head dropped at his teammate's words. "I'm sorry Shino, Hinata," he muttered finally. Akamaru whined piteously from atop Kiba's head.

Naruto watched as Team 8 was led from the room, Hinata looked back at Naruto as she followed her teammates out of the room. He could see the tears sparkling in her pale eyes as she left the room.

"Eyes forward," Ibiki barked. "Now then, you all have a decision to make; to take the tenth question or not? If you decide to stick around and take the tenth question, and get it wrong, you will fail, your team will fail and you all will be barred from taking the Chunin Exams ever again. But if you decide to not take the tenth question, you and your team will automatically fail but you will still get to take the Chunin Exams in the future. So choose!"

Naruto looked back at Sakura and Sasuke. The three teammates all shared a resolute look; they were not going to give up. But many of the other teams wavered one by one, genin stood and backed out. After five minutes, there were only ten teams left in the room.

"Time's up," Ibiki said. "Now then, I have only one thing to say to you all…You pass!"

"What!"

"That's right, you all have passed the first exam," Ibiki smiled broadly.

"How? What about the tenth question?" Sakura asked.

"The decision to take the unknown tenth question was actually the tenth question itself," Ibiki explained. "In our world, you will be faced with harsh decisions, decisions that can have dire consequences. When faced with such a decision, will you run away? No!" The genin jumped at Ibiki's shout. "Running away is cowardice, and it is not the way of a chunin. As a chunin, you will be the leader of your own team, and will be responsible for their lives."

"But what was the point of the other nine questions?" a genin from Kusa asked.

"To gather accurate information under difficult circumstances," Ibiki answered. "While the tenth question's do or die answer was the point of the exam, the ability to gather accurate information discreetly is vital to being a chunin. Information is the lifeblood of a ninja's successful mission, false information is worse than no information. And being able to collect accurate information is worse than no information."

CRASH!

The remaining genin tensed as one of the windows smashed in and a large black blur sped through the opening. A banner unfurled in front of Ibiki that read 'The Sweet and Sex Second Proctor, Anko Mitarashi.' In front of the banner stood a very attractive looking young woman. The woman wore a tan overcoat with a high collar and pockets, underneath the jacket was just a mesh-armor bodysuit that just barely extended past the orange mini skirt. The woman's headband was mostly covered by her spiky dark violet hair that was pulled up in a ponytail.

"Looks like you had a pretty tough test this time Ibiki," the woman said. "There are only 10 teams left, well done."

"Perhaps but underestimate them Anko," Ibiki said. "These brats have some talent."

"We'll see," Anko cackled. "They still have to impress me. And I guarantee that only half of these brats will pass what I've got in stare them, at best."

Naruto felt a slight chill run down his spine at Anko's bloodthirsty grin and claim, and he was sure he wasn't the only one.

"Look brats, you have one hour to gather your gear and meet me at Training Ground 44," Anko said. "If you are even one second late, you'll fail. Now move it!"

The remaining genin teams scrambled from the room, leaving only the proctors to pick up the tests papers.

* * *

><p>"So what do you think this exam will be like?" Naruto asked as Team 7 reached the massively imposing Training Ground 44. A ten foot high chain link fence ran around the training ground, and on the fence was a large sign that read 'DO NOT ENTER: YOU WILL MOST LIKELY DIE.'<p>

"I don't know," Sakura said. "But we should be ready for anything, that written exam came out of nowhere."

"And that proctor told us to grab our gear, so we should assume that there will be combat," Sasuke pointed out. The other two members nodded.

An explosion of smoke captured Team 7's attention. It was the proctor, Anko Mitarashi.

"All right brats, glad to see you all made it in time," Anko said. "Now listen up because I won't repeat myself, and I'm not as forgiving as Ibiki. Behind me is Training Ground 44, or better known as the Forest of Death. And it will be your home for the next five days."

"What? Five days!" a random genin shouted.

"Yep, Anko chirped. She pulled two scrolls from her jacket. "Each team will be given one of these scrolls, and the point of this exam is to reach the tower in the middle of the training ground with both scrolls in five days, oh and to not die in the process."

"That's it?" Naruto asked.

"Well that is if you all manage to get by the giant bugs, killer beasts and the other teams," Anko said. "Before we go any further, let me tell you the ways you can fail. If you don't have both scrolls by the time you reach the tower, you fail. If you don't reach the tower inside the time limit of five days, you fail. If a member of your team is seriously injured or killed, you fail. Or if you look inside the scrolls before reaching the tower, you fail. Aside from that, anything goes. Oh, I almost forgot, you all need to fill out these forms before you are given your scroll. Nothing important, just a release form."

"Release form?" Ino asked. "Release for what?"

"They just absolve myself and Konoha from any responsibility or fault if you get killed while in the forest," Anko giggled. She passed out a stack of the forms to the genin and waited for them to be handed back in. "Right then, you will get your scroll from the chunin in the tent," she instructed. "Then you will be led to a gate. Once the horn sounds, the exam begins. Have fun."

Twenty-five minutes later, Team 7 was waiting for the exam to begin at Gate 12.

"So what's the plan?" Naruto asked as they waited.

"Find another team with an Earth scroll and take it," Sasuke said.

"Well I got that," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "But how do we do that?"

"This is pretty much a search and destroy mission," Sakura said. "We should scout out an area about halfway to the tower, and see if we can trap anyone. With only nine other teams, we only have five chances to get a scroll. I'll bet that most teams will go straight for the tower and set up an ambush along the way." Naruto and Sasuke nodded.

"I can use my clones to scout out more of the training ground than the other teams," Naruto pointed out. "And with your traps Sakura-chan, we can breeze through this exam."

"Don't get overconfident Naruto," Sasuke warned.

"All right you three, get ready," the chunin warned. "The horn should go off any minute."

A moment later, a loud horn sounded and the gate was flung open, allowing Team 7 to dash through the gate leaving the chunin standing alone watching their backs.

Team 7 stopped a couple hundred meters inside the training ground on a large branch well above the forest floor.

"Ok Naruto, go and find us a team," Sakura ordered. The blonde grinned and made his signature hand sign.

"**Multi Shadow Clone!**" Naruto shouted. Team 7 was suddenly surrounded by a mass of Naruto clones. "You know what to do," Naruto told his clones.

The clones grinned and leapt off into the forest, leaving barely a trace.

"I still can't believe how good you are at stealth," Sakura commented, shaking her head.

"It's easy to hide when no one wants to see you," Naruto said with a sad smile. Suddenly the blonde stiffened. "Found a team."

"Who?"

"It's that team from the Wave," Naruto said. "The ones that beat up Team 10 and ran off."

Sakura and Sasuke's eyes narrowed at Naruto's identification of their newfound target.

"This will be interesting," Sasuke said with a dark grin. "Where are they?"

"About two hundred meters away at our 4 o'clock, and heading our way."

"Perfect," Sakura and Sasuke chorused.

"I think I should tidy up before our guests arrive, don't you?" Sakura suggested. Sasuke and Naruto shared a grin.

* * *

><p>"Where are they Dosu?" Zaku snarled. "You said they were this way!"<p>

"They are here Zaku," Dosu growled. "Come on out you brats. I can hear you."

"You three have some guts, showing your faces here," Naruto growled as he, Sasuke and Sakura leapt down to the forest floor opposite the Oto team.

"Please brat," Zaku laughed. "I hope that you have gotten stronger than the last time we fought. Otherwise it wouldn't be much of a challenge."

"I seem to remember you three running off the last time we met," Naruto taunted. Zaku growled and took a step forward.

"Zaku, control yourself!" Dose barked. "Do not let your anger blind you. The brat is trying to get you angry enough to make a mistake."

Zaku shot Dosu a dark look but took a step back. Dosu knelt down and placed his gauntleted hand on the ground. "Did you really think you could fool me with such a flimsy trap?" Dosu asked, looking up at Team 7, who flinched. Dosu drew a kunai and snipped the trip wire. The six genin leapt apart as a shower of kunai and shuriken rained down upon the group.

"Kin you take the pink haired bitch," Dosu ordered. "Zaku will take on the blonde shrimp and I will handle the Uchiha."

"Why do you get the Uchiha, Dosu?" Zaku argued. "I wanted to fight him not some blonde runt."

"Those are your orders Zaku," Dosu snarled. "Now if you want the Uchiha then beat your opponent before I beat the Uchiha."

"Wow you three are really confident that you can beat Sasuke or I," Naruto laughed. "Big words for a trio that ran off with their tails between their legs the last time we met."

"That's it brat!" Zaku roared. "**Decapitating Airwaves!**" The dark haired boy raised his arms and twin blasts of air were fired from two holes in the boy's palms. Team 7 scattered and were followed by their opponents.

"Man, I hate that Dosu guy," Zaku growled as he and Naruto landed in a small clearing. "He thinks he's our leader, and thinks that he can order me around."

"Your mind should be here on this fight," Naruto said. "Not on Sasuke and your teammate."

"Whatever brat," Zaku said dismissively. "You aren't even worth thinking about. I just hope that the Uchiha can hold out against Dosu."

"Oh don't worry about that," Naruto grinned. "Sasuke is one tough bastard, he won't go down so easily. And his **Sharingan** can see chakra, so that your teammate's sound attacks won't catch Sasuke by surprise."

Zaku's eyes widened. "How?"

"You really thought that I wouldn't talk with Team 10 about their fight against you three back in the Wave," Naruto laughed. "Like that proctor said, information is the lifeblood of a ninja. Knowing your opponent is half the battle."

Zaku shouted and fired off another salvo of air blasts from his palms. Naruto easily dodged the telegraphed attack and raced forward, a calm coldness settling over him. He had noticed that this feeling would come over him whenever he sparred against his team and had first experienced it in the aftermath of the Wave bridge battle.

Naruto drew a pair of kunai and held them in reverse grips. Dashing forward, Naruto slashed at Zaku who leapt backward. The Oto ninja shot another pair of air blasts at Naruto. The blonde cursed, realizing that he was too close to dodge. In desperation, Naruto sent as much wind chakra into his kunai and tried to spilt the two air bullets.

Boom!

"Heh," Zaku sneered as he surveyed the damage that his jutsu had caused and saw no sign of his blonde opponent. "Pathetic. Knew that weakling couldn't handle the power that Orochimaru-sama gave me."

"So you work for Orochimaru," a voice said from behind Zaku.

"What?" Zaku cried as he turned around. Naruto was standing behind Zaku, his arms held loosely at his sides. The blonde's clothing was ruffled and dirty but overall the blonde was uninjured. "How?"

"You are too slow," Naruto answered before vanishing in a blur of speed. The last thing that Zaku saw before his world went black was Naruto flicking some blood from the blades of his kunai.

"That was easy," Naruto said. An explosion caught Naruto's attention, and the blonde raced back toward his teammates.

* * *

><p>"You're not done yet?"<p>

"Naruto!" Sakura grinned not looking up from her battle against Kin.

"There's no way you could have beaten Zaku that quickly!" Kin cried.

"Did you really expect something different?" Naruto asked, feeling generally confused, did he really look that weak? "That guy was not all that strong, just had that weird wind jutsu. It was easy. Sakura, why haven't you finished this one off yet, you're way stronger than her."

"Shut up!" Kin shouted. "I don't believe that a shrimp like you could beat Zaku."

"Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant," Naruto said. "I am here and Zaku is rotting away well on his way to becoming animal food. I know that you three are working for Orochimaru, Zaku spilled the beans. So that means you are working for a missing ninja from Konoha, an S-rank criminal and one of the biggest criminals in my village's history. What does he want?"

"I'm not telling you anything!" Kin shouted, trying to sound angry but both Naruto and Sakura could hear the waver in her voice.

"Your teammate is dead, you can't pass the exam," Naruto said. "You might as well just give up and surrender to us. If you tell us what Orochimaru is planning, we can help you."

"Why would you help me?" Kin asked. "I am your enemy."

"I don't think you want to be our enemy, I can tell that you hate or fear working for Orochimaru, so what do you say?"

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura asked. "Like she said, she's an enemy. Don't you think I can beat her, I don't need you trying to get her to surrender?"

"I know you can beat her Sakura-chan," Naruto said, waving his hands in front of himself. "But we should at least try and learn why the biggest criminal in the village's history is back and sending agents into the Chunin Exams, right?"

Sakura glared at Naruto, causing the blonde to feel a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck. "Fine," Sakura agreed. "I hate it when you actually use that brain of yours. Things were so much easier when you were an idiot."

Naruto laughed. "Perhaps, just wrap her up and once we find Sasuke, we can drop her outside the fence," he said. "Someone will pick her up. She'll slow us down too much to take her with us."

"Don't talk like I'm not here!" Kin shouted.

"**Earth Release: Sinkhole!**" Sakura muttered, slamming her hands to the ground. Kin yelped as the earth softened beneath her and pulled her down until only her head was visible.

"That's new," Naruto commented.

"Yep," Sakura chirped. "I modeled it off of sensei's **Headhunter Jutsu**. I can't make a hole much larger than a single person because of my chakra levels though."

"Well it works," Naruto grinned. "Do you have any prisoner tags on you?"

"No," Sakura admitted. "But I can make one if you have any sealing paper and ink?"

"Yeah, I have some," Naruto said, digging through his pouch and pulling out some paper and a jar of ink.

"Thanks," Sakura said, taking the ink and paper from Naruto.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Kin cried, trying to wiggle herself free from Sakura's jutsu.

"Oh be quiet," Sakura snapped before slapping the tag of Kin's forehead. The Oto kunoichi slumped as the tag put her to sleep. Two clones appeared next to Naruto with a slight gesture and began digging Kin free.

Another explosion caught Naruto and Sakura's attention.

"Looks like Sasuke might need some help," Naruto said. He turned to his clones. "Get her to the fence and find a proctor or someone. Tell them that she is working for Orochimaru." The two clones nodded and picked Kin up before leaping off. Naruto and Sakura turned toward where the explosion had come from and raced off to find their teammate.

* * *

><p>"<strong>Fire Release: Great Fireball!<strong>" Sasuke shouted, spewing a large ball of flames at Dosu. The Oto genin dove behind a huge tree to avoid being burnt to a crisp by the fireball.

"I would have hoped that the Last Uchiha would prove a better opponent," Dosu taunted, even though he was inwardly cursing. He had been on the back foot this entire fight, ever since Sasuke revealed that he could see his **Sound Drill Jutsu** with the **Sharingan**. This forced Dosu to abandon his favorite strategy of countering any physical attack with a focused **Sound Drill Jutsu** to his opponent's ear.

Sasuke panted as he sucked in a breath after using the **Great Fireball Jutsu**. He knew that his opponent was buying time, trying to make him exhaust all his chakra before making his move. Sasuke had to admit, that **Sound Drill Jutsu** was a very clever jutsu, and it would have seriously hampered Sasuke if it wasn't for his **Sharingan**'s ability to see chakra.

The Uchiha teen grabbed several shuriken from his pouch and deftly wrapped some ninja wire through the holes in the metal throwing stars.

Dosu felt the flames from the Uchiha's fire jutsu die out and took a deep breath. '_Now_,' he thought dashing around the smoldering tree. Dosu's lone visible eye widened as he came around the trunk, he spotted several shuriken speeding toward him. The Oto genin leapt into the air to avoid the shuriken, but realized his mistake almost instantly.

"Too late," Sasuke grinned as he jerked his head back. The wire attached to the shuriken led the ninja stars upward and wrapped around the bandaged Oto genin. Sasuke smirked as his hands sped through several hand signs. "**Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu!**"

Sasuke watched dispassionately as his fire jutsu sped down the wire and engulfed the boy. When the flames finally died, all that remained of Dosu was a charred husk. Sasuke felt his stomach rebel at the sight and smell of flesh melting away as he approached the corpse and fished gingerly through the remains to find the scroll that he knew this genin had been carrying.

"So you won?"

Sasuke turned to see Naruto and Sakura standing on a branch, looking down at him.

"Was there any doubt?" Sasuke retorted. Naruto chuckled while Sakura smiled broadly.

"Of course not, so we got the scroll?" he asked. Sasuke nodded and held up a Heaven Scroll.

"Excellent, let's get to the Tower," Sakura said. Team 7 leapt off not sensing the gleaming yellow eyes watching them with excitement and hunger.

**A/N: Well there you go, the newest chapter of _Naruto: Hidden Legacy_. Hope you all enjoyed it, let me know if you all enjoyed it. I know that the Chunin Exam Arc has been quite overdone but hopefully the changes I've made to it so far will make it interesting for you all. Just some news for my readers, there will NOT be any pairings in this story, the characters are 12-13 years old. As this story will have a sequel, any pairings will come in that story if there are any. _Naruto_ ****wasn't about who got paired with who, it was supposed to be about preserving, friendship and being loyal to yourself. To me, the final chapters of _Naruto_ totally messed up the previous 15 years, Kishimoto or whoever, decided to scrape all that _Naruto_ stood for in order to pander to all those who were clamoring for shipping. While I didn't like Naruto and Hinata being paired together, I don't mind it. It was Sasuke and Sakura being paired together that really annoyed me, IMO Sasuke didn't deserve to live after what he pulled. I think a great way for Sasuke to be forgiven would be if he had died of his wounds, or died killing Madara to wrap up the Uchiha bloodline. From what I've heard and read about _Naruto: The Last_, Sasuke is barely in it, so why have him survive the war anyway. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and til next time,**

**SlytherinKnight**


	8. Nothing Brings People Closer than Death

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is NOT mine, I don't own any of the characters, settings or recognizable jutsus. It all belongs to Kishimoto and all that he has deemed worthy of owning a piece of it. Just having some fun and trying to fix the holes that I felt were unacceptable in the epic that was _Naruto_.**

"How much further to the Tower?" Naruto whined as Team 7 leapt through the massive Training Ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death.

"A bit closer than the last time you asked, five minutes ago!" Sakura shouted. "Now shut up and keep running!"

"Look out!" Sasuke shouted as he caught movement and felt a massive spike of chakra. An enormous gust of wind whipped through the trees, stripping them of bark and leaves, as it rocketed toward Team 7.

"Whoa!" Naruto shouted as he was blasted off the branch that he had been trying to stick too.

"Naruto!" Sakura and Sasuke cried as they watched their teammate being blown away.

"What the hell was that?" Sakura asked when the wind finally died. "That was no natural wind!"

"It was a jutsu," Sasuke agreed. "I felt a chakra spike just before it hit."

"What do we do?" Sakura asked. "If that was a jutsu, there's no way that a genin could produce that strong of a jutsu."

"We need to find Naruto," Sasuke said. "And then get the hell out of here."

"Oh you needn't worry about Naruto-kun," a high yet icy cold voice hissed from the shadows. "He will be quite occupied with my little friends. You two must keep your attention here."

Sasuke and Sakura watched silently as a tall, dark haired woman rose from the shadows in front of them. The woman's skin was as pale as a corpse, and the predatory gleam in her yellow eyes sent shivers down Sakura and Sasuke's spines.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, inwardly curing himself at the waver in his voice.

"Oh don't worry Sasuke-kun, we will get to that in due time," the woman giggled. "But first, you must pass my test."

"What are you…" Sasuke fell silent as he and Sakura felt a crushing cold surround them. The two genin fell to their knees as the air was stolen from their lungs. It felt as if a hand had just forced its way into their chests and was slowly crushing their heart and lungs. Sasuke looked up at the tall woman who was watching he and Sakura with the air of a bored spectator. His coal black eyes met the woman's yellow eyes and Sasuke gasped as he saw visions of a kunai piercing his skull, and he could feel the blade slowly making its way through his flesh, bone and brain.

"It's a pity," the woman commented lightly. "One would think that being _his_ brother, you would show more promise and skill. Oh well." The woman slowly drew a pair of kunai and with casual ease, threw them at Sasuke and Sakura.

'_Move!_' Sasuke thought as he saw the kunai sped toward him and Sakura. Suddenly the kunai slowed down as the world seemed to snap into ultra focus.

"Interesting," the woman said as her two kunai sank into the tree branch where Sasuke and Sakura had been kneeling. There were several flecks of blood on the branch where Sasuke had been. "He managed to overcome the genjutsu with pain. Perhaps he does have quite a bit of talent, the hunt begins."

"Sakura, Sakura!" Sasuke hissed as he looked at his teammate who looked as pale as the woman they had just escaped from.

Slap!

A pinkish tinge formed on Sakura's face from where Sasuke's hand had impacted her cheek.

"Sasuke-kun?" she whispered as if coming out of a daze. "Where are we?"

"We're in the Forest of Death, the Second Exam of the Chunin Exams, remember," Sasuke answered.

"Oh right," Sakura said. Then she stiffened as if struck by lightning. "Where's that woman? How did we get away?"

"She put us in a genjutsu or something," Sasuke said. "I was able to break it and get us away."

"Where's Naruto?"

"I don't know," Sasuke admitted. "He got blown away, remember?"

"We need to find him," Sakura said. "If that woman comes back, we will need Naruto to have a chance."

A small part of Sasuke didn't want to admit that she was right but the larger part of Sasuke, the part wanting to keep him alive agreed with Sakura. If there was one thing that Kakashi had beaten into Team 7's heads was that they were stronger together than they were by on their own.

"You know you really shouldn't lower your guard so easily," an amused voice hissed from behind Sasuke.

All Sasuke needed to know that the voice behind him belonged to the woman they had run from was Sakura's widening eyes and rapid draining of color from her face. Sasuke rapidly spun around and saw the tall woman standing about ten feet away, her arms crossed across her chest and an amused smile on her pale face.

"When in the presence of a predator, one must never let down their guard," the woman said, sounding like a pale imitation of an Academy instructor.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh there are many things I want Sasuke-kun, but the question you should be asking is what I can offer you?" the woman answered cryptically.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked.

"What is it that you want Sasuke-kun?" the woman asked. "What do you desire most deep down in the depths of your very being?"

Visions of Itachi lying beaten and bloodied at his feet filled Sasuke's mind. A large puddle of blood was spreading out from beneath Itachi's body as Sasuke watched the light fade from Itachi's eyes.

"There it is Sasuke-kun," the woman laughed. "Show me that you are worthy of bearing the name Uchiha."

"Sasuke-kun, we need to find Naruto," Sakura whispered.

"Sakura, I don't think this woman will just let us leave," Sasuke argued. "If we want to find Naruto, we have to beat this woman or you go find him and I stay behind."

Sakura looked annoyed that Sasuke would even think of asking her to abandon her teammate, though she knew that both she and Sasuke were greatly outclassed by this woman. This woman who had made her nearly pass out and become nothing more than a drooling mass with nary a look. Her killing intent was magnitudes stronger than Zabuza's and a nagging voice in the back of Sakura's head was screaming at the pinkette that this woman was just toying with the two genin.

"Sakura, make your choice," Sasuke said sharply. "Our opponent is not going to remain this patient forever."

Sakura was torn between wanting to run, under the pretense of trying to find Naruto, and staying by Sasuke's side. Then the words of Kakashi-sensei rang through her head, '_Those who abandon their teammates are worse than scum._'

'**Naruto is strong too**,' Inner Sakura said in Sakura's mind. '**He won't die easily, have faith in him.**'

Sakura nodded. '_You're right_,' she agreed. "I'm staying Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. "Naruto is too strong to be stopped by a single jutsu. And we both know what Kakashi-sensei thinks of those who abandon their teammates."

"So Kakashi-kun is your sensei, and he is still peddling that teammates come first mentality," the woman laughed sending shivers down the two genins' spines. "Do you know that Kakashi-kun is the lone surviving member of his genin team? That he abandoned his own captured teammate to continue a mission. Not a very good track record for a man who talks so highly of valuing one's teammates."

"How do you know Kakashi-sensei? Who are you?" Sasuke demanded.

"Perhaps if you impress me Sasuke-kun, I will tell you my name," the woman said. "But only if you do. So it seems that it will be two against one, very well. Let's begin then, shall we?"

Sasuke and Sakura leapt apart as a pair of kunai shot from the woman's sleeves. Sakura returned fire with a handful of shuriken that the woman effortlessly weaved her way through.

"**Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!**" Sasuke shouted. A large fireball spat from Sasuke's mouth and sped across the forest.

"Such mastery of the gamed **Great Fireball Jutsu**," the woman commented as she sank into the bark of a tree to avoid Sasuke's jutsu. "So you show quite a bit of talent. Let us see how much talent you have Sasuke-kun."

The woman shot forward Sasuke at such high speeds that she became just a blur to Sakura. Sasuke was able to track the woman, in fact the world had seemingly snapped into crystal focus. He raised his left arm and blocked a bone crushing punch from the woman; Sasuke bit his lip to hold back the cry of pain as he felt his bones shake from the impact. Sasuke launched a kick at the woman's head but she easily caught his leg.

"You are going to have to do better than that Sasuke-kun," the woman chided. She squeezed Sasuke's leg causing the boy to grunt in pain. With effortless ease, the woman threw Sasuke aside.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried. She leapt after Sasuke to catch him but the Uchiha managed to twist himself in mid air and land on his feet. Sasuke grunted as pain lanced up his leg. The branch quivered as Sakura landed next to Sasuke. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"Fine," Sasuke said, rubbing his leg. He could already feel the bruises forming on his leg. "Do you have any idea on how to beat this woman?"

"No," Sakura answered. "I can tell she's holding back and is toying with us."

"I know," Sasuke agreed.

"Your opponent won't always be willing to give you time to regroup and neither will I," the woman cried as she dashed forward. Before either Sakura or Sasuke could react, the woman had appeared in front of them. With just a single punch, Sakura was sent flying off the branch.

"Sakura!" Sasuke shouted. He could tell that Sakura had been knocked out cold by that single punch judging by the way she was limply flying through the air.

"You shouldn't take your eyes off me Sasuke-kun," the woman giggled. Sasuke turned and found the woman towering over him. Sasuke's mind took him back to _that night_, when _he_ had slaughtered their family and clan. Sasuke had vowed that he would never again be in such a position weakness, he would never be as weak as he had been that night.

Sasuke's **Sharingan** spun rapidly as he leapt after Sakura even though he knew that he would not be able to catch her. He felt a helplessness begin to overwhelm him as Sasuke watched with perfect clarity as Sakura's limp body drew closer and closer to a large tree.

"What the hell Sasuke!" a loud but welcome voice shouted out as a yellow blur flashed in front of Sasuke and caught Sakura. It was Naruto. The blonde was standing on lower branch with Sakura held bridal-style.

Sasuke breathed a small sigh of relief. "Where have you been Naruto?" he shouted, schooling his features into a mask to hide that relief.

"Sorry Sasuke, I got held up by this massive snake," Naruto said. "It tried to make me into dinner. What's up with you?"

"So Naruto-kun, you managed to escape my slippery friend," the woman said with an amused smile.

Naruto glared at the woman. "So you were the one who sent that wind jutsu at us and nearly made me into snake food, eh?"

"Indeed Naruto-kun." The blonde flinched slightly as the woman's face stretched almost impossibly wide in a smile.

"What do you want?" Naruto demanded.

"I do not like repeating myself," the woman said. "I wish to test Sasuke-kun, and I believe I have been interrupted enough."

"**Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!**" Naruto shouted without warning, sending a large wind bullet at the woman who had surged forward.

"Oh, so we have another wind user," the woman said as she slithered around Naruto's jutsu much like a snake. "But you will have to do much better than that to stop me."

"Sasuke, remember when Kakashi-sensei combined his jutsu with Asuma-sensei's," Naruto shouted as he leapt backward with Sakura back in his arms. Sasuke nodded.

"**Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!**" Naruto shouted.

"**Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu!**" Sasuke echoed.

The two jutsus combined and sent a rushing whirlwind of flame spiraling toward the woman. Naruto and Sasuke shielded their eyes from the combination jutsu as it engulfed several trees in flames.

"Think that did it?" Naruto asked, setting Sakura down on a branch.

"I don't know," Sasuke answered.

"We need to get out of here," Naruto said. "The snake that tried to eat me vanished after I beat it. The only animals that do that are summons."

"Summons?" Sasuke repeated. "The only summoner that uses snakes is…"

"Orochimaru," a weak female voice coughed from next to Naruto and Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto breathed. "Are you all right?"

"I feel like I've been run over by a herd of cows," Sakura groaned. "What happened?"

"You were knocked out by that woman," Sasuke explained.

"I seem to be losing my touch if a weak little girl is able to stand after being punched," an eerie cackling voice came out of the fire. Followed by the tall silhouette of the woman. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura looked on horrified as the woman walked out of the flames, without a care in the world, but she was not unscathed. Half of the woman's face had melted off but instead of charred and blackened flesh and bone, another face looked out at Team 7.

The woman reached up and tore off the hanging flesh with nary a flinch, and she tossed the skin into the flames behind her.

"That was quite a powerful combination jutsu Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun," the woman said. "Very impressive but not quite powerful enough."

"What are you?" Sasuke shouted.

"Since you have already guessed, I am Orochimaru of the Sannin," Orochimaru said with a wide smile.

"What do you want?" Naruto demanded.

"I suppose have to answer that now," Orochimaru commented. "I am here to give Sasuke-kun an offer."

"An offer? An offer of what?" Sasuke asked.

"One of power of course," Orochimaru laughed. "You wish to gain power to kill Itachi, I can give you that power."

Sakura and Naruto looked to their teammate who had gone stock-still.

"Yes Sasuke-kun, I can give you all the power you desire," Orochimaru continued his pitch. "All that you desire can be yours if you wish it, and I can give them to you."

"Sasuke, think about what this bastard has done," Naruto said. "We've all heard the rumors, you can't trust a word he says."

"Oh Naruto-kun, how naïve you are," Orochimaru laughed, sending shivers racing up and down the genins' spines. "You call me untrustworthy when Sarutobi-sensei has hidden so much from you. Or what you've hidden from your own team, what does that say about you?"

Naruto glared at Orochimaru whose smile only widened.

"Come now Naruto-kun, why the anger at me? It is Sarutobi-sensei that you should be angry with," Orochimaru taunted. "He is the one who is hiding things from both you and Sasuke-kun. Oh the things I could tell you both."

"What do you mean the both of us?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke-kun, do you really think as powerful as your brother is, how could he kill your entire clan in a single night with no one noticing?" Orochimaru asked. "Your clan, while not the largest, still had how many shinobi in its ranks? Why did anyone not notice what was happening, surely at least one or two of your clansmen could fight back or make enough commotion to bring attention to the compound?"

Sasuke stared at Orochimaru in both confusion and suspicion. The Sannin could tell that his words were having an effect on the boy. '_Perhaps I don't have to mark him, at least just yet,_' Orochimaru thought. '_He would come to me on his own, and having him choose me over the village would really twist the knife in Itachi's chest._'

"I have spoken enough," Orochimaru said. "Think about it Sasuke-kun. What you have been told doesn't add up. And Naruto-kun, why are you so loyal to those who would toss you aside without a second thought, as well as continuously hide things from you? I have your answers if you wish them, Sarutobi-sensei will never let things come to light because they would tarnish his grandfatherly image. If you truly want the answers to all the questions you have, I will know. I have eyes and ear everywhere."

Team 7 watched as Orochimaru sank into the tree, leaving no trace of his presence.

"Can you see him Sasuke?" Naruto asked, five minutes later.

"No," Sasuke answered. "I can't see him anywhere nearby."

"We should get out of here," Sakura said. She was leaning against the tree, still holding her ribs from where Orochimaru had punched her. Neither Sasuke nor Naruto disagreed with their female teammate.

"How far is it to the Tower?" Naruto asked later on.

"I don't know Naruto, just keep going," Sakura snapped, tightening her grip around Naruto's neck. She had argued that she hadn't needed to be carried but both boys said that speed was the better part of valor at that moment. Sakura was still recovering from Orochimaru's blow, and couldn't move at full speed. She theorized that the punch had broken at least one rib, because of the sharp pain that shot up through her chest with each breath.

Sasuke was racing out in front of Naruto and Sakura with his **Sharingan** blazing. The rapidly darkening forest was closing in around Team 7, and Sasuke's **Sharingan** was able to see much easier than Naruto and Sakura.

"Hey Sasuke, we need to stop," Naruto shouted. "I can barely see ten feet in front of me. Can you see anyplace where we can spend the night?"

Sasuke landed on a branch and scanned the area, barely noticing Naruto landing next to him, with Sakura on his back.

"There is a cave below us," Sasuke said. "But I still think we should keep moving."

"Normally, I would agree with you but we are all on edge and with Sakura-chan hurt, we need to find a place to rest," Naruto said. "Lead the way."

Sasuke nodded and led his teammates down from the treetops down to the cave that he had spotted.

"What's bugging you Sasuke?" Naruto asked. Team 7 had settled down in the cave and had spilt up the evening into watch shifts; Sasuke, Naruto and then Sakura.

"Nothing," Sasuke answered.

"It's what Orochimaru said, isn't it?" Naruto pressed. Sasuke's shoulders hitched. "Look Sasuke, I know it's probably really tempting, thinking that Orochimaru has all the answers but do you really think that he would just give up that kind of information for free."

"Naruto, what do you know about this!" Sasuke snapped. "Ever since that night, I've wondered why he did it! Why did he only leave me alive? And no one has told me why it happened? Orochimaru made some very strong points, how could Itachi wipe out my entire clan by himself? He was the strongest ninja in my clan but he couldn't do it by himself."

"Sasuke, I will admit that Orochimaru raised some interesting questions," Naruto said. "But there has to be a good reason that these questions haven't been answered. After the Exams, why don't you ask jiji about them? He has hidden things from me too, he knows who my parents were but won't tell me. He says I'm not strong enough."

Sasuke looked at his blonde teammate, being reminded that Naruto was also an orphan, and didn't even know who his parents were, let alone have any memories of them.

"Sasuke, I can't make your choice for you," Naruto said. "Just don't make your decision without getting all the information. If Orochimaru does have information about what happened to your family, you have to know that anything he says will be twisted to make the village look bad."

Sasuke nodded. "I know that but its still agonizing not knowing, isn't it?" he asked. Naruto gave a single nod in response. "If we were to ask the Hokage, and he doesn't give us our answers, what will you do?"

"I don't know," Naruto admitted. "I will have to see why jiji won't tell me, I can't give you a better answer than that"

"I guess you're right, for once," Sasuke quipped. Naruto rolled his eyes at his teammate's comment.

"You know that tomorrow is going to be hell," Naruto said. "We might have both scrolls but the other teams will be on the lookout. And there's what Orochimaru said, having eyes and ears everywhere. We have to assume that any team that we run into is working for Orochimaru…even those from Konoha."

Sasuke grunted in agreement.

"You can take off now, I'll send out some **Shadow Clones** to scout and patrol around," Naruto said. "They'll warn me if any other teams come by."

Sasuke shot Naruto a grateful look and turned from the cave mouth. Naruto watched as Sasuke unpacked his bedroll and lay down near Sakura.

Turning back to the outside forest, Naruto summoned a dozen **Shadow Clones**, and had them scatter into the woods. He then pulled out several slips of paper and stuck them around the cave mouth.

"**Barrier: Four Corners Barrier!**" he muttered. The mouth of the cave shimmered slightly as Naruto's barrier erected itself. The blonde had read about the use of barrier jutsus while studying fuinjutsu and decided to try and incorporate it into his skill set. The **Four Corners Barrier** was the only one that Naruto could use and it was really only an alarm barrier, any jutsu, C-rank or higher, would shatter it. But as long as it alerted Team 7, it would serve its purpose.

* * *

><p>"Why didn't you wake me up?" Sakura growled.<p>

"Well Sakura-chan, you needed more sleep and you looked so peaceful that we couldn't bring ourselves to wake you up," Naruto stammered, sweat trickling down the back of his neck. "And besides, with my clones and barrier there was no way someone could sneak up on us."

"Hey don't drag me into this," Sasuke said. Sakura glared at her blonde teammate.

"Look, we need to keep moving," Sasuke said sharply, ending Naruto and Sakura's argument. "We can't be out in the open for to much longer or we'll be spotted."

Naruto and Sakura fell silent and nodded. Team 7 turned from their sanctuary and out toward the Forest of Death.

"Let's go," Sasuke ordered and the three genin raced off back into the forest.

"Look out!" Sasuke shouted as Team 7 leapt from branch to branch. They had only been running for an hour or so when Sasuke's **Sharingan** had caught the glint of a kunai speeding toward them. Team 7 halted as a kunai struck deep into the branch they had landed on.

"Come on out, we know you are there," Sasuke barked as Team 7 fell into a defensive position, back to back in a triangle formation.

"Scatter!" Naruto ordered as a rain of senbon needles came speeding down at Team 7 from the treetops. Team 7 easily dodged the needles and regrouped just as a trio of ninja descended from the treetops.

"Looks like we caught a bunch of tree rats," the tallest ninja sneered. "Give up you brats, you are surrounded and outclassed. Just hand over any scrolls that you have and maybe just maybe we'll let you go."

"Why don't you make us?" Naruto growled. "You won't get our scroll without a fight."

"You asked for it," the ninja said. Amusement glittered in the man's dark green eyes as he reached up and pulled the umbrella from his back. Tossing the umbrella into the air, he shouted, "**Ninpou: Needle Rain!**" Needles began spitting down toward Team 7.

"**Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!**" Naruto countered, firing a large wind bullet at the needles, knocking them from the air.

"So, it looks like the Leaf brats know how to play," the lone female ninja sneered. "Good, it's been much too boring so far. **Water Release: Water Bullet!**"

Several fist-sized blobs of water shot from the woman's mouth and sped toward Team 7. The Konoha genin easily avoided the attack and readied themselves for a follow up but it never came. The enemy ninja continued to pepper Team 7 with long range attacks. Naruto continued firing back with **Wind Bullets** to knock aside any attacks that came close.

"What are these guys doing?" Naruto asked as he sent another **Wind Bullet** at the enemy. "All they've done is pepper us with these weak attacks."

"Naruto, its time to counterattack," Sasuke barked. "Flush them out."

"Right!" Naruto shouted. "**Multi Shadow Clone!**"

Dozens of Narutos burst out of the smoke and rushed toward the enemy ninja.

"Oh how cute, one of the Leaf brats can make clones," the short male ninja said. "Well two can play at that game." All around Team 7, black shadows rose from the trees and ground and solidified into clones of the shorter Rain ninja. "Get them," he shouted. The clones of the Rain ninja charged Team 7 at their creator's order.

The clones of Naruto all grinned as one.

"What are you smiling at?" the short Rain ninja sneered.

"At how dumb you are," one of the clones said.

"What the…" a high scream cut off the man's question as Team 7, which had hidden in the smoke from Naruto's jutsu, reappeared behind the Rain ninja. Each member had a kunai in their hand, and they were placed at the throats of the Rain ninja.

"Call off the clones or they will be the last thing you ever see," Sasuke ordered.

"Fine," the clone maker growled. The clones sank back into puddles of black.

"What!" Team 7 shouted as the Rain ninja they had been holding at kunai-point also dissolved.

"Did you really think we would be fooled so easily?" a laughing voice called down from the treetops. "Switching out with clones is one of the oldest tricks in the book."

The three Rain ninja fell down from the trees, landing on each member of Team 7. Naruto's, Sasuke's and Sakura's eyes all widened as they struggled for a moment before they felt the cold sting of a kunai slip between their ribs. The three Rain ninja grinned at each other.

POOF!

The impaled bodies of Team 7 vanished with subdued puffs of smoke.

"Fooled you," Naruto's own laughing voice echoed around the Rain ninja. Several dozen clones of Naruto dropped down from the trees.

Before any of the Rain ninja could move, the tables have been reversed and Team 7 had their kunai at the throats of the Rain ninja.

"Where's your scroll?" Sasuke snarled.

"It's in my pack," the tall Rain ninja said quickly and in a panicky voice. "Take it and let us go, please."

Sasuke looked over at his teammates. He could see that both Naruto and Sakura were tired and wanting desperately to get out of this forest and rest somewhere without having to set a watch to make sure they didn't get a blade across their necks while they slept.

A Naruto clone came up to Sasuke's side and quickly searched through the ninja's pack. The clone pulled out an Earth scroll and showed it to Sasuke. The dark-haired Uchiha nodded at the clone.

"Thank you," Sasuke said. He nodded to his teammates and as one; Team 7 slammed the handles of their kunai into the heads of the Rain ninja and knocked them out cleanly.

"Come on, let's get out of this kami forsaken forest," Sasuke said.

"Right!" the other two genin of Team 7 agreed. Team 7 leapt off, unaware that a pair of gray eyes were watching them from the trees.

A tall, spindly tower rose above the trees of the Forest of Death. It's uneven surface and spiraling height made it fit right in with all the tall trees. And it was an immensely welcome sight to the genin of Team 7. They dashed through the open doors of the tower and entered a large entrance hall.

"Now what?" Naruto asked, panting. Team 7 had been running for roughly six hours straight, they could have made the run only last an hour but Team 7 didn't want to go through another fight, so they had to go in a circular route to make sure they didn't run into another team.

"I don't have any idea," Sasuke snapped.

"What about the scrolls?" Sakura suggested. "Didn't the proctor say that we couldn't open them unless inside the tower, so why don't we open them?"

"Better idea than I can come up with," Naruto shrugged. He and Sasuke took out the scrolls from their pouches and opened them. "Drop the scrolls, that's a summoning scroll!" Naruto shouted. The blonde recognized the writings on the scroll from the Nidaime's scroll.

He and Sasuke tossed the scrolls down and leapt backward as the scrolls exploded and a cloud of smoke filled the hall.

"Congratulations," a warm and welcome voice said as the smoke cleared away to reveal Iruka standing on top of the scrolls.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted at the sight of the Academy instructor.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked. "Why were you summoned?"

"Well, I wanted to be the one who passed or failed you three, since you were in my class at the Academy," Iruka said.

"So…"

"You passed!"

"All right!" Naruto cried along with Sakura, Sasuke just gave Iruka a smug grin. Iruka smiled at the blonde's exuberance. '_You've grown so much Naruto,_' Iruka thought. '_You have come so far._'

"Now what?" Naruto asked. "I mean, we brought the scrolls to the tower in the time limit, so what do we do now?"

"Ah right," Iruka said. "Since you three got here inside the deadline, you can all rest up. The exam will end in two days. There are rooms in the tower to rest in and relax. Once the exam is concluded, you will be called to the main arena for a meeting where you will be given further instructions. I am so proud of all of you."

"Thanks sensei," Team 7 said in unison.

"Hey Iruka-sensei, have any other teams made it?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, actually two other teams have made it," Iruka answered. "One team from Suna and a team from Konoha."

"Who from Konoha?" Sakura asked.

"A team that graduated a year before you three," Iruka said. "Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga and Tenten Noguchi."

"When did they arrive?" Sasuke asked, his competitiveness leaking out. He didn't like knowing that a team from Konoha had beaten.

"The Suna team got here on the first day," Iruka said. "Actually, they beat the old record, it was very impressive. The Konoha team reached the tower yesterday."

"Ah who cares if we weren't the first team here Sasuke," Naruto said, noticing his teammate's mood. "We passed the exam and that's all that matters. I'm beat Iruka-sensei, where's our room?"

"Follow me."

* * *

><p>"What are you still doing up?" Naruto turned to see Sasuke stepping out of his room and into the common room of the suite that the Team 7 had been assigned.<p>

"Can't sleep," Naruto answered. "You?"

"Same," Sasuke said. "Why?"

"Why do you think?" Naruto asked, rolling his eyes.

"Orochimaru?" Sasuke guessed. Naruto nodded, confirming the Uchiha's guess. "Same here."

"You know that we shouldn't even be talking about him," Naruto said. "Who knows who might be listening, and this man is one of the biggest traitors in the village's history."

"I know," Sasuke admitted. "But I can't get the thought that the village might be hiding more than they are telling me about that night."

"Sasuke, like I said in the Forest, anything Orochimaru tells you would be twisted to paint the village in the worst light," Naruto said.

"Why are you so vigorously defending the village that has treated you like crap?" Sasuke asked strongly. "Orochimaru claimed to know who your parents are and was willing to tell you, while the Hokage wasn't. Aren't you the least bit curious?"

"Of course I am," Naruto fired back. "I have always wanted to know who my parents were, you have no idea what its like growing up completely alone and unwanted. To have never known a mother's hug or to hear your father say he is proud of you? But I trust that jiji has a reason for not telling me, when I find out that reason I will probably not like it, hell, I will probably want to punch jiji. But I know he is only doing what he thinks is right."

Sasuke huffed at Naruto's answer. The blonde was right on some level, the Hokage must have his reasons for not telling Sasuke anything about that night. But Orochimaru's words had place a seed deep within Sasuke's mind, a small flame that would not die.

"What do you think happened that night?" Sasuke asked, his voice very soft, almost like the pre-teen was afraid.

"I don't know Sasuke," Naruto said. "The only person who can truly answer that question is your brother." Sasuke's head snapped to look at Naruto. "It wasn't that difficult to figure out, especially after what Orochimaru said. I am sure that before you kill him, you'll ask him."

"You think that I will kill him?"

"Of course I do, you are my teammate," Naruto answered simply.

Sasuke couldn't understand what Naruto's simple statement was making him feel. It wasn't the same warm feeling that Sasuke had felt when his father finally acknowledged him, or when his mother had given him a hug after coming home from the Academy or training. Sasuke thought that it felt closest to when _he_ acknowledged Sasuke after Sasuke achieved something.

"Naruto, you know you are the first person who has told me that," Sasuke said. "Everyone else has just pandered to me about achieving my dream, telling me how strong I have to become just to have a chance. But you are the first one to sincerely believe in me. And you don't know how much that means to me. Thank you Naruto."

Naruto grinned. "Of course Sasuke, that's what friends are for."

"Friends, right."

**A/N: There you have it, hope you all enjoyed it. I noticed that not many people reviewed on my previous chapter, and was just wondering why? If you don't like the story and want to suggest changes, then either PM or review me. I wanted to use this chapter as a building block to Naruto and Sasuke's friendship, more than what we got in the manga and anime. I also wanted to delve more into Sasuke's character as I want to show him as a conflicted young man, not as an avenger hellbent on revenge like he was in the manga at least to me. I hope that I have started to do so. Anyway, that's all for me, hope you all enjoyed the chapter, til next time,**

**SlytherinNinjaKnight**


	9. A Brief Respite

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is NOT mine! I don't own any recognizable parts of Kishimoto's amazing (at least up until the final 10 or so chapters) manga work. I am just having some fun in the _Naruto_ world, trying to add my own little quirks to our favorite blonde's life.**

**Jutsu or Bloodline Ability**

_Inner thoughts_

_**Demon Speak**_

Naruto groaned lewdly as he sat up in bed, his back cracking and popping. The mattress that he had been sleeping on was immensely more comfortable than the lumpy and thin mattress that he normally slept on at his apartment. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Naruto swung his legs off the bed, hissing at the touch of the cold wooden floor.

"Good, you're up," a familiar voice said.

Naruto looked around and saw Sasuke stepping out of the bathroom, running a towel through his still wet hair.

"Man, I slept like the dead," Naruto said. "What time is it?"

"Around seven, I think," Sasuke answered.

"Where's Sakura-chan?"

"No clue, probably still in her room," Sasuke shrugged.

"So what's the plan for today? I mean, we still have two full days before the end of the Second Exam," Naruto said. The door to the boys' room opened and Sakura walked in. She had obviously also just gotten out of the shower as her long pink hair was glistening as she ran a brush through it.

"Good morning Naruto, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. "What were you two talking about?"

"What is on the agenda for today," Sasuke answered. "We have two days before the exams finish and now we don't know what to do."

Sakura frowned, cutely in Naruto's opinion, and sat down next to Sasuke on the couch. "We could walk around the Tower, see who else has made it here and maybe we can learn what will happen next," she suggested.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other and the blonde shrugged. "I've got nothing better," he said. "Let's go!"

"Shouldn't you get dressed first Naruto?" Sakura asked, trying not to stare at the blonde's sleep attire of a black tank top and dark orange sweats.

Naruto looked down at his clothes and blushed. "Oh right," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "I'll get washed up and changed. I'll bet there is some sort of cafeteria in here, I can meet you guys there once I'm done."

"All right," Sakura agreed quickly, glancing at Sasuke and trying not to blush and squeal at the thought of being alone with Sasuke. "Come on Sasuke-kun, let's go find some food."

"Ah!" Sasuke cried out in surprise as Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand and yanked the Uchiha from the couch and out of the room. Sasuke looked back over his shoulder at a smiling Naruto with a glare. But that glare quickly vanished when Sasuke noticed that the smile Naruto was wearing was completely wooden and fake.

Naruto sighed as the door slammed shut behind Sasuke and Sakura, letting the false cheerful smile he had shown his teammates slide from his face. Naruto turned toward the shower, ignoring the slight pang in his chest. He knew that Sakura loved Sasuke, and would always love Sasuke but it did hurt to see Sakura run off with Sasuke and look so happy doing so.

'_**You should just give up on that weakling!**_' the deep, dark voice of the Kyubi echoed around Naruto's head. '_**She is not worth your feelings**__._'

'_Didn't we already have this argument already,_' Naruto growled. '_I don't care what you think about Sakura-chan but you will not call her weak._'

The massive fox just rolled its eyes and fell back asleep.

'_Stupid asshole fox,_' Naruto grumbled.

"That's enough Sakura," Sasuke growled, wrenching his hand from Sakura's grasp. "I can walk just fine on my own."

"Sorry Sasuke-kun," Sakura whispered. "Where do you think the cafeteria is?"

"I have no clue," Sasuke snapped. "I don't know where anything is anymore than you do. And you were dragging me along too quickly to see any directions."

Sakura's face gained a pink tinge that matched her hair. "Sorry Sasuke-kun," she apologized again.

"Sakura."

"Yes Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke grimaced at the almost worshipful tone that Sakura used when saying his name.

"Sakura, what do you think of Naruto?"

Sakura blinked and gave Sasuke a confused look. "What do you mean Sasuke-kun?"

"What I said, what do you think of Naruto Uzumaki, our teammate?"

"That's a hard thing to answer Sasuke-kun," Sakura admitted after a minute. "During that Academy, and when we first became a team, I thought that he was annoying and rude and dumb, always pestering me for dates and just being a nuisance. It seemed like he was meant to always pester and annoy me, but now, now that I've gotten to know him, my opinion of Naruto has changed. Sure he is still annoying but I've learned there is more to Naruto, like Kakashi-sensei always says 'look underneath the underneath'. Naruto is my teammate; he can be funny, clueless, serious and sometimes scary. Looking back, I am disgusted at how I treated Naruto in the Academy, sure he wasn't the easiest person to get along with but he didn't deserve all the hate that I put on him. Why do you ask Sasuke-kun?"

"It is something that Orochimaru said," Sasuke said. "It has been bugging me, Naruto is hiding something from us. I've been suspecting this ever since our time in the Wave. On the bridge, he used this cold and wild red chakra. The chakra gave him incredible strength but when I asked him about it, Naruto wouldn't give me a straight answer. You felt it too didn't you?" Sasuke asked, noticing Sakura's look.

"Yes, I felt it," Sakura admitted. "I didn't know that it was Naruto. I had never felt such cold and hatred, even from Zabuza or Orochimaru. To think that that chakra came from Naruto, actually I don't know what to think. What do you think it was?"

"I don't know," Sasuke answered. "I thought it might be some sort of bloodline but then I wondered why Naruto would keep it quiet. The village loves its bloodlines but Naruto is treated so badly by most of the villagers so I don't think it's a bloodline."

"Why then hasn't Naruto told us about it? We are his teammates, he should trust us!" Sakura argued.

"Does six months of being teammates make up for years of mistreatment?" Sasuke pointed out. Sakura winced.

"So what do we do?" she asked.

Sasuke paused as he thought about his answer. "As much as I want too, confronting Naruto and demanding he answer our questions will only send him running," he began. "I think all we can do is wait until Naruto trusts us enough to tell us."

Sakura didn't look pleased at Sasuke's answer but couldn't think of a better way and nodded her agreement. The two genin continued on down the hallway toward what they hoped was the cafeteria, not knowing that a pair of blue eyes had been watching from the shadows.

'_**What will you do know now meat bag?**_' the voice of the Kyubi growled from deep within Naruto's mind.

'_Shut up fox,_' Naruto snapped.

'_**They will find out about me, and when they do, you know what will happen,**_' the Kyubi sneered. '_**They will call you freak, monster. You will be all alone again. They will hate and fear you, they will run away from you.**_'

'_Shut up!_' Naruto roared. The massive fox smirked darkly as it faded back into the recesses of Naruto's mind, its work down for now. '_Stupid asshole fox,_' the blonde growled as he trailed his two unaware teammates.

The blonde found the cafeteria a few moments later and spotted Sakura and Sasuke sitting at a table at the far end of the room.

"So you finally decided to show up, eh dobe?" Sasuke quipped when Naruto reached the table. "We thought that you had gotten lost."

Naruto just rolled his eyes and sat down, grabbing a cup of juice offered to him by Sakura. "Thanks Sakura-chan," he said. "Have you seen anyone else? We know that two teams have already passed before we did."

"No, we haven't seen any of the other teams," Sakura said. "All that we know is that one is a team from Suna and the other is an older team from Konoha. Maybe we should scout out the competition, see what we are up against?"

"After breakfast," Naruto said before digging into the food that had been put out. Sakura and Sasuke just rolled their eyes at the antics of their blonde teammate.

Naruto had just pushed away his third plate of eggs and bacon when the doors to the lounge flew open and the team from Suna entered. The team was made up of two boys and one girl; the smaller boy was being flanked by his two teammates as they walked in. The boy had red hair with dark green eyes with black rings circling them, making the boy look like a raccoon.

Deep within Naruto's mind, the Kyubi stirred. '_**Now that's a feeling I have not felt in some time**_,' the fox muttered.

Meanwhile Naruto felt the fox stir and felt unease settle upon him at the sight of the short redhead. A subtle sense of bloodlust was following the redhead as he passed Team 7. Naruto also noticed that the redhead's teammates were walking very stiffly as if they were afraid of making any sudden movements, and their eyes kept darting back toward the boy between them.

"So that must be the Suna team," Sasuke said. "Did you guys notice…"

"Yeah, that the taller two were afraid of the redhead," Sakura finished. Sasuke nodded.

"We should avoid them," Naruto said. "Something doesn't feel right about him, like he is one second away from going over the edge." Sasuke and Sakura each saw the serious look on Naruto's face and knew that the blonde was not messing around. Both Sasuke and Sakura knew that Naruto's gut feelings were nearly always right; the blonde seemed to have an inordinate amount of good luck at least in some things.

"Let's check out the rest of the Tower," Sasuke said. Naruto and Sakura nodded and Team 7 left the lounge as one, only Naruto feeling the gaze of the short redhead following their movements as they left.

* * *

><p>"Sasuke Uchiha!"<p>

Team 7 turned to see Rock Lee come racing down the hallway like a train. Behind Lee were two Konoha ninja who were most likely his teammates, the girl was the bun-haired girl from the genjutsu pre-test, and the other male was obviously a Hyuga judging from his milky white eyes.

"So you guys made it as well?" Naruto asked. "Congrats, did you guys just make it to the Tower?"

"We arrived yesterday morning," the Hyuga boy said.

"Wow, we got here last night," Naruto said. "You guys must have gotten lucky to find a team with a scroll so quickly."

"It was Fate that we passed, not luck," the Hyuga said with a sneer. "There is no such thing as luck."

"Ok then, have it your way," Naruto said warily.

"Sasuke Uchiha, the time has come for us to have our most youthful match!" Lee shouted.

"Lee, now is not the time," the bun-haired girl said. "For Kami's sake, we haven't even had breakfast yet, and you are already challenging people to fights."

"But Tenten, I want to test myself against the Uchiha heir," Lee pouted. "I already waited for this chance, I will not wait any longer."

"A spar sounds fine," Sasuke said. "Let's find a place to fight, I could use a good work out."

"All right!" Lee cried, pumping his fist. Tenten rubbed her brow in exasperation, while the Hyuga boy only shook his head. "Come Sasuke, let us find a hall where we can display our youthfulness for all world to see!" And with that, Lee ran off constantly shouting about youth.

"I'm guessing that this happens a lot?" Naruto asked as Team 7 and Lee's two teammates followed the energetic ninja down the hallway.

"You have no idea," Tenten muttered. "Oh, I am Tenten by the way and this is Neji," she added, introducing herself and the Hyuga.

"You three didn't graduate with us," Sakura said. "How long have you been ninja?"

"We graduated a year before you three did," Tenten answered. "But this is our first Chunin Exams. Our sensei wanted to make sure we were ready and that we took the Exams in the village. And you are Kakashi's team, the famed Team 7."

Naruto chuckled. "I don't think if you can say we're famous," he said. "I mean we've only been a team for six months, not a lot of time to build a reputation."

"Please, haven't you heard about the Great Maelstrom Bridge?" Tenten asked. "Our sensei was ranting about his rival's blinding youthfulness and how his team saved a country from the 'unyouthful grip of Gato'! Not famous, right?"

Team 7 all blushed slightly at Tenten's gushing over their mission to the Wave. "Honestly, it wasn't just us who saved the Wave," Sakura said. "Team 10 was there too, it was their mission to escort Tazuna in the first place. We were just sent to back them up since Tazuna lied about who was after him. It was just good luck, or bad luck depending on how you look at it, that we were given the mission at all."

"So what, you guys still went on an A-rank mission as baby genin," Tenten exclaimed. "We didn't even get to leave the village on a C-rank until six months had passed since we had graduated."

The two Konoha teams reached a large hall that looked perfect for a spar. Lee was already at one end of the hall, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet in excitement. Sasuke stood about ten feet away from Lee, his posture relaxed and ready but Naruto and Sakura both knew that Sasuke was just as excited as Lee was. His tells were more subdued then Lee's but the constant flexing of his fingers told Naruto and Sakura that Sasuke was itching for a fight as much as Lee was.

"Sasuke, don't do anything stupid," Naruto warned. "We don't know what is going to happen after the Exam, so don't get yourself really hurt."

Sasuke gave his blonde teammate a clipped not. "Naruto has his moments of brilliance every once in a while," Sasuke admitted. "Why don't' we agree to only use taijutsu, make sure we really don't get hurt or wreck this place?"

"That is a most youthful idea, Sasuke!" Lee said. "It is most sporting of you to limit yourself to only taijutsu, I myself cannot perform ninjutsu or genjutsu, so I have dedicated myself to learning all that I can about taijutsu. My dream is to show the world that a ninja can become strong using only taijutsu, so do not hold back yourself back in fear of harming me."

"Oh crap," Naruto muttered, shaking his head. "Now Lee's done it."

"What do you mean?" Tenten asked.

"Lee is making it seem like the only way Sasuke-kun could possibly beat Lee is if Sasuke-kun were to use ninjutsu or genjutsu," Sakura said. "Lee, unknowingly or not, just put Sasuke-kun down, making Sasuke-kun think he is weak by needing ninjutsu or genjutsu to defeat Lee."

"On the bright side, at least they won't totally wreck this place," Naruto said.

Sasuke settled into the ready stance of his family's **Interceptor Style**, while Lee took up an unfamiliar stance. He was standing ramrod straight; his right foot in front of his left, with both arms were tight to his body with his right forearm and hand pointing at Sasuke.

Sasuke's **Sharingan** spun to life as he took in his opponent, at first glance it looked like Lee was leaving himself wide open but with his **Sharingan**, Sasuke could tell that Lee was in a excellent defensive position.

"Let us begin!" Lee shouted as he rocketed forward at surprising speed. If Sasuke hadn't had his **Sharingan** activated, there would have been a very good chance that this spar would have already been over in only one blow.

'_Never thought that running into the traitor Orochimaru would be beneficial,_' Sasuke thought as he ducked under another kick from Lee. Lee's blows, while powerful, were nothing compared to the Snake Sannin's, nor was the boy's speed.

"Wow, the Uchiha isn't all talk if he's able to keep up with Lee," Tenten said. "But then again, Lee is just warming up."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Lee wasn't lying when he said he has completely dedicated himself to mastering taijutsu," Tenten said. "And Gai-sensei is a taijutsu master himself, and even he says that Lee is well on his way to surpassing him. While Uchiha is quite talented, against Lee though, he has no chance."

"Don't rule Sasuke out just yet," Naruto said. "He's one tough bastard."

"Truly Sasuke, you have shown that you are worthy of the Uchiha name and title of genius," Lee shouted. "And your **Sharingan** is a most fearsome weapon but thanks to my most youthful sensei, I know of the major weakness of your **Sharingan**."

"Flaw?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes flaw," Lee said with a blinding smile. "With your **Sharingan**, you might be able to see my movements, if your body is not fast enough to avoid them then it won't matter if you can see them. Let me show you the true power of hard work!"

Sasuke saw Lee surge toward him but instantly Sasuke knew that he couldn't keep up with the green-clad boy.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried as her teammate and crush was spent flying across the hall.

Sasuke managed to twist in mid-air and landed in a crouch but still skidded across the floor. '_How fast is this guy?_' Sasuke thought. '_If I can barely keep up with Lee now, how much was Orochimaru holding back?_'

"**Konoha Senpuu!**" Lee shouted as he appeared in front of Sasuke, the boy's body coiled to deliver another devastating spinning kick. Sasuke managed to raise an arm to lessen the blow but it still felt like a sledgehammer had hit him and sent him flying through the air.

"Lee, enough fooling around," Neji barked, speaking for the first time. "Finish this!"

Lee nodded and began to unfurl the bandages that covered his arms and hands. "Forgive me sensei but to truly show that I am a genius of hard work and have achieved my dream, I must use _that_ jutsu," Lee said. "Sasuke-kun, the time has come to finish our spar. And to do so I will show you my most powerful move, a move that I have mastered using only hard work."

Sasuke felt a tinge of doubt enter his mind after hearing Lee's declaration. The Uchiha knew that he was barely hanging in against this boy, and now Sasuke was about to face Lee's strongest move. Lee vanished in a blur of speed unmatched to what he had shown so far, and all Sasuke could feel was pain as Lee's foot caught him under the chin, sending Sasuke soaring through the air. Lee leapt after Sasuke, his bandages coming to life as they ensnared Sasuke, wrapping the Uchiha up like a mummy.

"This isn't good," Naruto said, concern filling his chest at the sight of his teammate flying through the air wrapped up and unable to move.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried, her hands flying to her mouth in fear.

"Lee!" a deep voice shouted out. The watching genin looked around for the source of the voice, but Neji and Tenten's heads snapped up recognizing the voice.

A kunai came whistling from the shadows, slicing through the bandages restraining Sasuke and setting him free. The two genin landed on the floor and turned toward the far end of the hall. A single figure stepped from the shadows, Team 7 blinked rapidly at the appearance of the newcomer, who looked like an older version of Lee.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee cried. "I just wanted to prove that I could…"

SLAP!

Team 7 winced as Gai slapped Lee across the face hard, sending the young genin flying.

"What have I told you Lee?" Gai scolded. "That jutsu is very dangerous and should never be used on a comrade! You could have seriously harmed yourself, and Sasuke-kun, and then you would have cost both your team and Sasuke-kun's team a chance to advance. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I am sorry sensei," Lee said, his head downcast.

"You foolish child," Gai shouted. "Your flames of youth do burn most brightly but you must also temper that youthfulness with wisdom. You must know when it is right to use such a jutsu; a youthful spar is not one of those times. As punishment, you will run 100 laps around the training ground, on your hands, once the exams have been completed of course."

"Right sensei!" Lee cried.

"I see you three have met Team 9," a familiar aloof voice said from behind Naruto and Sakura.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura yelped as they spun around. Sasuke made his way over to his team and sensei, holding his right arm.

"Yo," Kakashi answered, waving a hand at his genin. "Congrats on passing the Second Exams, I am proud of you three."

The three genin of Team 7 grinned at their sensei's praise.

"But Sasuke, you shouldn't have accepted this spar," Kakashi continued. "Especially without a proctor or jonin to watch. You put yourself and team at risk of being disqualified from the Exams." Sasuke ducked his head at the chiding from Kakashi. The Uchiha boy knew that the jonin was right; Sasuke had let his pride get the best of him. "Still, being able to push Lee, a genin who has a full year experience more than you, into using a trump card is pretty impressive."

Kakashi grinned beneath his mask at the perk up in his student.

"Sensei, can you tell us what will happen after the Exams end? No one seems to know," Sakura asked.

"I could," Kakashi answered.

A minute passed, "Well sensei, are you going to tell us?" Sakura asked.

"No of course not."

"What! Why not? You said you would!" Naruto shouted.

"No, I said I could tell you, not that I would," Kakashi said, giving his frustrated team an eye smile. "What I can tell you is why I can't tell you what happens next."

"Well, why can't you tell us?" Sasuke growled.

"Because it's a secret," Kakashi said with a shrug as if it answered everything. Team 7's heads dropped to their chests in unison. "Sorry you three but its tradition that all genin taking the Exams not know what is coming. You never know what you will face in this business; it's a very important quality to have as a ninja.

"Fine…sensei, is there a place we can talk, alone?" Naruto asked. "Something happened in the Forest that you should know about."

Kakashi knew that this was serious from the way that Sakura and Sasuke deferred to Naruto and didn't look surprised. "Follow me," he said.

* * *

><p>"So what did Orochimaru tell you?" Kakashi asked once Team 7 plus Kakashi were back in the genins' quarters.<p>

"What!"

"How did you know?"

"Give me a little credit," Kakashi said, sounding wounded. "Also, the proctor of the exam ran into him as well, and managed to raise the alarm. You guys have no idea how lucky you three are to still be alive."

"We kind of figured that," Naruto admitted. "That guy, he was on a totally different level."

"It was terrifying," Sakura said. Sasuke nodded his own agreement.

"Still, I can't express how proud I am of you all," Kakashi said, causing the genins' heads to look up at him in confusion. "Standing your ground against Orochimaru is something that even I would have second thoughts about doing." Team 7 beamed at their sensei. "Now what did you three want to talk about?"

"Nothing now," Naruto said. "We wanted to tell you about Orochimaru but since you already know, what's the point." Kakashi nodded.

"What about that team from Oto?" Sakura asked. "They said they were working for Orochimaru, doesn't that mean he might have others working for him."

"A team said that they worked for Orochimaru?" Kakashi asked, his posture straightening. "What team?"

"It was the same team from our mission to the Wave," Naruto said. "The ones that beat up Team 10."

"The ones with the headband symbol of a musical note," Sasuke finished. "They said they were from Oto, right?"

"Otogakure no Sato," Kakashi said softly. "They are a new village, just springing up this year and we don't know a lot about them so far."

"Naruto, what about that Kin girl your clones took to the proctor? Didn't they find her?" Sakura asked.

"What is this about?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, the team from Oto tried to ambush us," Sasuke explained. "I fought this one-eyed guy who had this metal gauntlet and used some sort of sound based attack, using his chakra to direct sound waves to injure his opponents. Naruto faced off against this asshole who could fire **Wind Jutsus** from his hands, like these holes in his hands. And Sakura..."

"I fought the girl who was pretty good at weaving sound-based **Genjutsu** with senbon needles," Sakura said. "But I had her beat until Naruto decided to intervene."

"Hey, I know you had her beat but I thought we should try and get some information on why Orochimaru had sent a team to the Exams," Naruto tried to explain himself. "And I remember my clones handed Kin off to an ANBU. The ANBU said that he would take custody of Kin and deliver her to the T&I department so they could get all the information they could from her."

"This is the first I am hearing of this," Kakashi said. "But I wouldn't worry about it too much, the T&I will get all they can from this Kin. And the other two ninja, you killed them?"

"Yes," Naruto said, his voice quiet. "They didn't leave us much choice."

"It's ok you three," Kakashi said. "I know that you three have already been bloodied but killing people your own age is never easy. Was there anything else that you needed to tell me?"

"Yes, Orochimaru said that he had eyes and ears everywhere," Sasuke said. "Wouldn't that mean he could have another teams working for him."

Kakashi's visible eye widened at Sasuke's information. "You're right," he said. "I need to tell the Hokage about this. Do not tell anyone else about what you've just told me, this is top secret, do you understand?"

"Yes sensei," the three genin of Team 7 answered sharply. Kakashi nodded before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"So Sasuke, how strong is Lee now?" Naruto asked when the smoke dissipated from their sensei's escape.

"You know Lee?" Sakura asked. "And you didn't tell us?"

"Yeah sorry about that," Naruto shrugged. "Remember, I started the Academy two years before you guys did, so I had classes with Lee, Tenten and Neji. I didn't recognize them at first because, well they've changed a lot since I last saw them."

"What about his teammates, Tenten and Neji? Do you know anything about them?" Sasuke asked. "We found out about Lee already."

Naruto cupped his chin and his eyes glazed over as he thought back to his time at the Academy, normally a time he wouldn't want to revisit. "Well Tenten always hated fan girls and wanted to prove that kunoichi could be as strong as shinobi. Oh and she was always the best in the class at target practice, she never missed, ever! Neji was a cold bastard whenever he talked, even more than Sasuke but he was insanely good at taijutsu, even better than Lee."

Sasuke and Sakura blinked at the thought that Neji was supposedly stronger than Lee in Lee's chosen ninja discipline.

"Well, the Hyuga clan is renowned for their clan's taijutsu prowess," Sakura said. "It's said to be nearly unbeatable."

"I doubt that," Naruto said. "Remember what Lee told Sasuke. He said that even though Sasuke could see the moves with his **Sharingan**, if his body can't move quickly enough to block or evade, then it wouldn't matter. If you can't get hit, then the enemy can't beat you."

"So we need to get faster then?" Sasuke suggested. "But how?"

"Well, according to what I've read, the Yondaime Hokage used weight seals to train his speed," Sakura said. "We could do the same. But I don't think I'm advanced enough to put a seal on my body or yours?"

"Naruto, you can do it right?" Sasuke asked.

"Probably," Naruto admitted. The blonde knew that he was the most advanced in fuinjutsu, it just seemed to come naturally to him. "But we should wait until I can get Kakashi-sensei to check things over, I don't want to screw things up with something so serious." The other two agreed and made sure to speak to their sensei after the Exam.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked softly. Naruto turned to his female teammate; she looked both curious and scared. "Naruto, about Orochimaru. We all know what he meant by promising Sasuke-kun power but what was he talking to you about? What did he mean by things you've hidden from us?"

Sasuke's head snapped around to look at Sakura, completely stunned that she would ignore his advice to not push Naruto into answering their questions. _'And she's supposed to be the smart one,'_ he thought.

Naruto froze. To Sasuke and Sakura, it looked like their blonde teammate had turned into a rabbit in the presence of a fox or another predator. His eyes were wide and darting around the room wildly, looking for an escape route.

"Naruto, are you all right?" Sakura asked. She had never seen Naruto act like he was now, scared and nervous. He always acted like nothing could faze him, always able to brush things aside with ease no matter what people said or thought of him. "You can tell us anything Naruto, we are your teammates, and your friends. Please trust us."

'_**They will hate you if you tell them,**_' the deep voice of the Kyubi growled from within Naruto's mind. '_**They will call you monster and murderer!**_'

'_No Sakura-chan is right,_' Naruto argued. '_They are my teammates and my friends. If I can't trust them on this, then how can I ever truly trust them to watch my back on a mission?_'

'_**That's the point idiot!**_' the fox growled. '_**You can't trust anyone but yourself.**_'

'_I do trust myself,_' Naruto fired back. '_And that's why I am trusting my decision to tell them._'

Naruto took a deep breath and looked both Sasuke and Sakura straight in the eye. "Look, if I tell you this, you can not tell anyone ok?" he said. "This is a matter of village security, if you tell anyone you will be killed."

"Come on Naruto, stop pulling our legs," Sasuke chuckled.

"I am being dead serious Sasuke," Naruto said. "Only myself or the Hokage can tell anyone. If you don't believe me, just think where is Mizuki-sensei?"

Sakura and Sasuke looked at one another, realizing that they hadn't seen or heard of their former Academy sensei since the day they graduated from the Academy.

"Mizuki tricked me into stealing a very valuable scroll from the Hokage's office after I failed the Academy exam," Naruto said. "He told me that it was a make up exam, and if I passed it, I would become a ninja. What he didn't tell me was that I was just to be a fall guy; Mizuki wanted this scroll and the jutsus inside it for power. When Mizuki caught up with Iruka-sensei, and me he told me the reason most of the villagers hated me. It was because of the Kyubi."

"The Kyubi?" Sakura asked. "But it was killed by the Yondaime Hokage 12 years ago."

"That's not what happened," Naruto said. "The Kyubi is a mass of pure chakra that has gained consciousness. Since it is made up of chakra, it can't be killed, only sealed away."

"Sealed?" Sasuke spoke up. "Sealed into what?"

"Me," Naruto admitted. "I am what is called a jinchuriki, a human sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?"

"Yeah," Naruto said heavily. "The fox was sealed into me by the Yondaime Hokage on the day of my birth. Actually, I was born just before the attack started according to the old man. And babies or younger children are best because their chakra networks haven't fully formed, and ever time are able to withstand the influx of demon chakra. An adult's network wouldn't be able to handle the strain and it would collapse, killing them."

"But why wasn't this announced, why are we just learning about this now?" Sakura asked. "It's obvious that people don't know about sealing…"

"They think you are the Kyubi, don't they?" Sasuke asked, interrupting Sakura.

"Probably some of them do, yes," Naruto nodded. "Hokage-sama told me that only our generation doesn't know about the fox. The older generations know the true story though. I think that most of the villagers, civilian and ninja, are afraid."

"Afraid?" Sakura asked. "Afraid of what?"

"The fox breaking free," Sasuke reasoned. "Like you said Sakura, fuinjutsu is not that well known, even by most ninja. They might be wary of the fox breaking free because to them, if the Yondaime Hokage, one of the strongest ninja this village has ever produced, can be killed by the Kyubi, what chance does a baby have of containing it?"

Naruto nodded, a sad smile on his face telling Sakura and Sasuke that their blonde teammate had come to the same conclusion.

"But again, why didn't Hokage-sama just announce that the fox can't break free?" Sakura asked, tears welling up in her eyes as the memories of each and every time that she had treated Naruto badly for doing absolutely nothing. "All he had to say was that the fox would never get out, and they would believe him right?"

"He did announce that the fox couldn't break free," Naruto said. "But some people I guess refused to believe him. There is another definition for a jinchuriki, other than a human sacrifice, they are also considered weapons of war."

"Weapons of war?" Sakura asked, blinking in confusion.

"Thank about it Sakura-chan, the Kyubi is a living mass of chakra, essentially a massive chakra battery, so that means I probably have more chakra than any single ninja in the village, even old man Hokage," Naruto said. "That means I can use more jutsus than anyone else, fight longer and pretty much be the village's trump card. In most villages, jinchuriki are nothing more than that, trump cards to keep villages out of war."

"How do you know this?" Sasuke asked.

"The Hokage told me," Naruto answered simply. '_Well, Grandpa's journals told me,_' Naruto thought to himself.

"Naruto, why are you telling us all this?" Sasuke asked. "You could have made something up."

"I trust you guys," Naruto said simply. "You two are my teammates, my best friends. If I can't trust you, then who can I trust?"

Sakura threw herself at Naruto, pulling him into a crushing hug, all the while sobbing, "I'm sorry," over and over into Naruto's shoulder. Sasuke ate a chuckle at Naruto's helpless and confused expression, meanwhile feeling a surge of warmth and gratitude well up inside him at the trust that Naruto was showing him and Sakura.

"Hey Sasuke, a little help here?" Naruto asked.

"You're on your own there dobe," Sasuke smirked.

**A/N: Well there you have it, the newest installment of _Naruto: Hidden Legacy_, hope you all enjoyed it. It was a bit of a ****character and dialogue driven chapter rather than action, but I really did like writing this one since it dove deeper into Team 7's dynamics. I always wondered, did Sasuke and Sakura not find out about Naruto holding Kurama until Shippuden? And if that were true, what would have happened if they found out earlier. Please let me know what you all think of this chapter, I want to know how I am doing in fleshing out the characters, etc. **

**Til next time,**

**SlytherinNinjaKnight**

**P.S: Bonus points for anyone who can catch the famous line from one of the most iconic villains in movie history I put into the chapter. Here's a hint: The line is spoken by a villain turned hero both in the chapter and the movie. The answer will be in the next chapter.**


	10. An Opportunity to Show Off Part I

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is NOT mine! I don't own anything recognizable from either _Naruto _or _Yu Yu Hakusho_, so there you go. **

**Key:**

**Jutsu Names**

"Dialogue"

'_Thoughts_'

_**Demon Speak or Demon-influenced speak**_

The time had finally come, the end of the Second Exam. Team 7 had been woken up by a Konoha chunin, the same bandage wearing chunin from before the First Exam, and told to be at the main hall by 5pm or they would be disqualified from the Exams. Team 7 made sure to get to the hall with plenty of time to spare in order to make sure they could see the competition, or that's what they told themselves, to be honest none of the genin could stand waiting around in their rooms, watching the clock tick down.

"It seems that we have reached the end of the Second Task of the Chunin Selection Exams," the aged voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi said from the platform at the front of the hall. "Congratulations to the five teams that have passed the trials within the forest, you have proven yourselves to be the best that your villages have to offer. Now, it seems that we still have too many participants to move directly along to the Third Stage, and so we will be having preliminaries to see who will advance to the finals. Ah Kabuto-kun, I'm afraid since your team did not manage to arrive intact, you will not be able to continue."

"I understand Hokage-sama," Kabuto said with a bow. "May I ask a favor though Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen looked down at the gray haired genin. "Very well Kabuto-kun, what is it?"

"I have only managed to reach this stage in previous Exams, and while I know I can not be allowed to advance, I ask you to allow me to participate in the upcoming matches so that I might see where I stand with my comrades?" Kabuto asked.

A bead of sweat trickled down Kabuto's neck as the Hokage examined him.

"Very well Kabuto-kun," Hiruzen said. "I will allow this as we have an uneven amount of participants, but you will battle in the final match is that understood?"

"Yes sir," Kabuto said quickly, coming to attention. "Thank you very much Hokage-sama."

"Hokage-sama, what do you mean by preliminaries? Haven't we suffered enough?" Shikamaru asked. The Hokage chuckled.

"Unfortunately not Shikamaru-kun," Hiruzen said. "There will be a series of one-on-one matches to determine who advances and will be given the opportunity to be promoted."

"Oh come on, ji-Hokage-sama," Naruto groaned. "I mean there are only fifteen of us, that's got to be a small enough number."

"I am afraid not Naruto-kun," Hiruzen grinned. "While the first two stages have cut down the participants by a good amount, there still need to be a few less of you." A loud groaning came from behind the Hokage and the other jonin; a part of the wall was moving slowly upward to reveal an electronic blackboard. "This board will show two names…"

A Leaf jonin suddenly appeared before the Hokage, kneeling. "Forgive me Hokage-sama," the ninja coughed. "But I, Hayate Gekkō, as the proctor for this preliminary stage should be the one to explain from here on."

"Very well Hayate-kun," Hiruzen said.

"Thank you Hokage-sama," Hayate said. The bandana-wearing ninja turned around to face the assembled genin. "When your name is called, you will come down here and fight. The match will continue until one of the fighters is unable to continue, or I call the fight. Lethal force is allowed, now let's begin."

Names began scrolling on the board, rapidly flashing through each surviving member until it pinged and the board showed Naruto Uzumaki and Hitsryu Ishida.

"All right, I'm up first!" Naruto shouted as he vaulted over the railing and landed on the floor in a crouch. Naruto's opponent Hitsryu, however walked calmly down the steps, all the while watching Naruto with a critical eye.

"Are you both ready then?" Hayate asked. Naruto gave a broad smile and thumbs up while Hitsryu just nodded. "Then begin!"

The two genin leapt backward and began sizing each other up. Naruto's opponent was a good head taller than the blonde but was thin. To Naruto, the boy looked like a tall blade of grass with his dark green hair and attire. Even the boy's headband cloth was a forest green.

"What have you not attacked yet?" Hitsryu asked.

"Why haven't you?" Naruto asked in return.

"From what I have observed of you, you are one of those ninja who rush in," Hitsryu said calmly. "A ninja who is always itching for a fight. Even now I can tell you are holding yourself back from attacking. Why is that?"

"I guess you're right," Naruto chuckled. "I'm not the most patient person, I like acting and moving instead of waiting. So I guess I've waited long enough. **Shadow Clone Jutsu!**"

A large cloud of smoke covered Naruto, and Hitsryu blinked slowly as he saw that over two dozen clones surrounded him.

"So it appears you are ready to begin," Hitsryu said as he slid into an unfamiliar stance. "You may begin your attack."

Naruto furrowed his brow, confused as to why his opponent was letting him attack so easily. "All right, let's see what you've got," Naruto grinned. With a mental command, he sent a handful of clones charging at Hitsryu.

Naruto froze as he felt his clones being dispelled rapidly. He looked up and saw Hitsryu twirling a whip that looked like it was made of a thorny vine. Naruto exchanged another look with his remaining clones and they nodded at their creator before charging in at Hitsryu again, this time with kunai drawn.

"Those kunai will do you no good Uzumaki-san," Hitsryu said as he ducked under a swipe from one of Naruto's clones. He casually dispelled the clone with a spin kick to its neck. "My vine is not so easily cut. I have grown it ever since I was a child, infusing it with my chakra for years. It has never failed me and it shall not this day. **Hidden Jutsu: Thorn Barrage!**" Hitsryu twirled his vine rapidly around himself, causing the clones to back off. Suddenly dozens of green thorns came firing from the whip in all directions at an impressive speed. Before Naruto could react, his clones were mowed down leaving just a single one. And even that lone survivor was quickly dispelled when Hitsryu wrapped his vine around the clone and with a pulse of chakra; its thorns skewered the clone. Naruto flinched as he received the memory feedback from the last clone.

"That's a very interesting weapon you have there," Naruto said. "But let's see if that vine can stand up to the wind." Naruto drew two trench knives from his belt. Ever since he had heard that Asuma Sarutobi also had a wind affinity, Naruto had approached the sensei of Team 10 for tips and ideas into how to incorporate his wind affinity into his fighting style outside of just wind jutsus. Asuma showed the blonde his knives and how wind chakra was the best affinity for close range fighting as it could be used to extend the reach of handheld weapons and their cutting power. Naruto was hooked immediately and asked where he could find a pair of knuckle knives for himself. "Let's see which is stronger: your vine or my wind?"

Naruto raced forward, aiming to get inside Hitsryu's whip before the green haired boy could react.

"You have the right idea, trying to get inside my reach," Hitsryu said. "But do you not think I would not know my own supposed weakness? I have trained myself night and day to make that weakness a strength, and because of that, you will not defeat me."

With a snap of his wrist, Hitsryu's whip shortened and hardened. Now in place of a whip, Hitsryu held a thorny looking sword. Naruto arched an eyebrow at the versatile weapon. Naruto raised his knives and blocked the overhead strike from the sword, grunting under the force. The Konoha shinobi (and a certain Suna kunoichi) were stunned to see that the whip-vine-sword was not sliced in two by Naruto's knives.

"But I thought that wind could cut through anything?" Sakura asked aloud, feeling a slight tinge of worry in her chest for her teammate.

"In most cases it can," Kakashi said. "But as Hitsryu said, that vine has been grown with chakra so it would be stronger, tougher and more versatile than normal. Kusa ninja are known for this type of weapon development. The Land of Grassy Plains has very little in the way of metals, so they must use other means to create weapons since importing mass amounts of metal weapons is expensive and dangerous."

"It seems that Naruto-kun is in a bit of trouble," the Hokage muttered. "Let's see what kind of surprises he has in store for us."

"A very impressive weapon," Naruto said. "It can be used at range and up close, and you wield it very well.

"Thank you," Hitsryu answered.

"But I've learned quite a bit since these exams have started," Naruto said. "Including one vital tidbit coming from a fellow Leaf ninja."

"And what would that be?"

"The strongest defense is an overwhelming offense," Naruto said. "And the best offense is to be too fast for your opponent to hit back. Ya see, if they can't hit you, they can't hurt or kill you. I learned that important lesson from a ninja who can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu and is one of the strongest people I know."

A soft glow enveloped Naruto and the spectators could see that Naruto seemed to be standing straighter and holding himself lighter.

"What is Naruto doing?" Sakura asked. "We promised to ask Kakashi-sensei about weight seals after the exams. Naruto better not have been holding out by lying to us about not being able to make them."

"That's not it Sakura," Sasuke said, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. "Naruto has channeled as much of his chakra as he can into his legs to make himself faster it would seem."

"Let's see how you handle this," Naruto grinned as he vanished in a blur of speed. Hitsryu only had time to blink before he felt a fist crash into his jaw, sending him head over heels backward and skidding across the floor.

"You might as well give up now," Naruto said. "Unless you have something more to show."

"I do," Hitsryu said, wiping the thin stream of blood that was trickling from his mouth. "That was quite an impressive boost of speed. I will admit that you surprised me with it but you should have ended this fight with that one blow and there because you will not surprise me a second time."

"We'll see," Naruto grinned, his blood pumping rapidly through his body. Hitsryu rose to his feet and lengthened his vine sword back to its whip form. He then began twirling it around him, faster and faster, until Naruto could barely make out Hitsryu's form through the thicket.

"**Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!**" Naruto shouted, sending a large ball of compressed air at his opponent. But the blonde was stunned to see his jutsu crash harmlessly into the vine swirling around Hitsryu.

"You will have to do better than that Uzumaki-san," Hitsryu said. "This is my ultimate defensive jutsu."

"Ultimate defensive jutsu, eh?" Naruto grinned. "Well, let's put that to the test. **Multi Shadow Clone!**"

The arena was suddenly filled wall to wall with clones of Naruto.

"How can he make so many clones?" Ino gasped, looking wildly around the hall.

"Naruto has always had very advanced chakra reserves," Asuma said. "It is his greatest strength and weakness."

"Weakness?" Choji asked. "Doesn't look like a weakness to me."

"It might not to you," Kakashi chuckled. "But all that chakra makes it very difficult to control. That was why Naruto struggled with exercises that only use small amounts of chakra, like the leaf sticking exercise, tree walking and the **Clone Jutsu**. And he can't use genjutsu."

"Now for the second part, Clone group one, you line him up. Clone group two, you've got propulsion. Let's see how the ultimate defensive jutsu holds up to this." One half of the clones each drew a handful of shuriken and threw them at Hitsryu.

"**Shuriken Multiplication Jutsu!**"

"**Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!**"

The wall of shuriken gained a huge boost of speed from the **Wind Jutsu** behind them.

"Hitsryu!" one of the other Kusa ninja cried as the shuriken closed in on her teammate.

The wind-assisted shuriken tore through the vine sphere with sickening snips and embedded in the opposite wall with heavy thuds. Pieces of the vine whip fell to the ground with soft splats.

"Quite a destructive combination," the calm voice of Hitsryu said as the Kusa ninja rose out of the ground behind Naruto. Before the blonde could move, he was wrapped tightly up by another vine whip.

"How?" Naruto asked. "I know that you were in that dome thing."

"I was," Hitsryu said. "But you were overconfident in believing that you had me trapped. A true ninja must always have an escape plan ready to be used. Now give up, it will be quite easy for me to skewer you now and kill you, if you don't

"Sorry," Naruto said. "Giving up really isn't my thing."

"Very well," Hitsryu said. His grip tightened on his whip and in response the whip tightened and its thorns grew and pierced the blonde all over.

"Gah!" Naruto gasped, before he grinned, "Fooled you," and burst into smoke.

Hitsryu froze, feeling the cold sting of metal at his throat along with an iron grip on his wrist. His face grimaced as Naruto wrenched his wrist, causing Hitsryu to drop his whip.

"Very clever," Hitsryu admitted. "You have trapped me."

"Give up or I will make you," Naruto growled, shifting the knife at Hitsryu's throat. A thin red line appeared along the blade.

"Your threats do not frighten me," Hitsryu countered. "But I am running low on chakra, and judging by the amount of clones you made, added to the fact that you haven't collapsed yet, tells me that you have a very large reserve of chakra, as indicative of a member of the Uzumaki Clan. Proctor, I give up, I can not continue this fight."

"Winner Naruto Uzumaki!" Hayate announced. Naruto lowered his kunai and released Hitsryu before stumbling backward. The Kusa ninja nodded to Naruto and Hayate before making his way back to his teammates.

"Congrats Naruto," Sakura said when Naruto reached Team 7. Sasuke just grunted his agreement.

"Yes Naruto-kun, you did well," Kakashi said. "You gave us quite a scare when your clone was trapped though.

"Oh come on sensei, didn't you guys have any faith in me?" Naruto pouted, causing Sakura to giggle while Kakashi gave his blonde subordinate an eye smile. "Man, I'm beat. That speed boost took a lot out of me," he said dropping to his butt.

"Yes, that was quite an interesting trick you pulled Naruto-kun," the exuberant voice of Rock Lee said from behind Kakashi. "Where did you learn it?"

"Well, funny story about that," Naruto chuckled. "I kind of modeled it off of you. I knew that I needed to be faster, so I thought if I channeled as much chakra into my legs as possible it would make me faster but man, it took a lot more chakra than I thought it would. I had to go overboard to make sure I was faster."

"It is very dangerous to attempt such an untested maneuver in the heat of battle," Gai warned. "It could have backfired and left you injured. And if that had happened during a mission, you would have put your team and comrades in great danger Naruto-kun."

Naruto bowed his head in recognition of the taijutsu master's advice and scolding.

"But Naruto-kun, the fact that you were able to pull off that move shows that you have a great deal of talent in taijutsu," Gai said. "When this is over, I shall send you some taijutsu scrolls to help you learn, if that is acceptable."

"That would be great, thank you very much Gai-san," Naruto said.

"Don't go trying to steal my student there Gai," Kakashi interrupted, though the genin could hear the amusement in his voice.

"Would Shikamaru Nara and Kankuro Sabaku please come down here?" Hayate called out. The black jumpsuit wearing Suna ninja leapt over the railing and landed on the arena floor.

"Go on then Shikamaru, show them what you can do!" Ino shouted, trying to egg on her lazy teammate.

"Come on, can't I just forfeit?" Shikamaru groaned. "This preliminary thing is too troublesome."

"No Shikamaru, you can't forfeit," Asuma said. His student's laziness was annoying the jonin. Asuma knew that Nara men were always lazy and nonchalant about pretty much anything but Shikamaru seemed to take it to another level. While after their mission to the Wave, Asuma had seen Shikamaru begin to change. That mission had opened his team's eyes to the reality of being a ninja, it showed all three genin that the glossed over stories of heroism and rescuing damsels in distress that Academy seemed content to peddle out. All three genin had begun training with a vengeance when Team 10 had returned to Konoha, each now having a reason to become strong. Shikamaru and Choji vowed to become strong in order to protect their friends and never feel helpless again. Ino had seen Sakura stand fearlessly against their opponents, and vowed that she wouldn't fall further behind her rival.

"Fine," Shikamaru grumbled as walking past his team and down to the arena floor.

"Took you long enough," Kankuro sneered. "And here I thought Konoha shinobi hated conflict."

"We may not like fighting, but we are undefeated in war," Shikamaru said. "But enough witty banter, it's no fun when the opponent has no wits to speak of."

"Why you?" Kankuro snarled.

"All right that's enough," Hayate interrupted. "You two are obviously ready to begin, so let's get started. Fight!"

Neither genin made a move, both just staring at one another. Shikamaru had his hands deep in his pockets and shoulders slouched, while Kankuro was gripping the straps of the package on his back, looking like he couldn't wait to charge forward.

"Well aren't you going to make a move?" Kankuro asked.

"Why haven't you made a move?" Shikamaru countered. "I'm not a very take the initiative-type of guy. So I don't mind waiting, though I'd much rather be watching the clouds than fighting a puppeteer."

"How did you…" Kankuro gulped.

"Your village is world-famous for puppet-using ninjas and the large wrapped package on your back pretty much gives it away," Shikamaru said with a shrug. The Suna ninja growled at Shikamaru's casual recognition of his skills.

Kankuro pulled the bandaged package off his back and it unfurled. To many of the spectators, it looked like a second Kankuro had appeared but Shikamaru knew that one of them was a puppet, the trick was figuring out which was the real Kankuro.

Shikamaru withdrew his hands from his pockets and pulled two kunai from his pouch. He knew he had to disable the real Kankuro if he had any chance of winning. If Shikamaru didn't get the real Kankuro the first time, Shikamaru would lose. With a speed belying his lazed posture and attitude, Shikamaru threw two kunai at the two Kankuros. Shikamaru's eyes followed his opponent; both of them, as they leapt apart easily avoiding the kunai.

'_He knows I am trying to figure out where he is_,' Shikamaru thought. '_He won't make any moves that will expose himself unless he is sure he's got me trapped. So troublesome._'

Shikamaru reached into his pouch again, grabbing a light bomb. It was a Nara clan secret, how these bombs were made. Many other clans and villages had tried to recreate the formula but none had managed it. Tossing the light bomb into the air, Shikamaru dropped to a knee.

"What the?" Kankuro frowned, watching the Konoha ninja kneel down after throwing something into the air. "Argh!" Kankuro shouted as the light bomb exploded.

"**Shadow Possession Jutsu** success," Shikamaru grinned as he felt his shadow connect and snare Kankuro's shadow with his own.

"What the!" Kankuro cried as he found himself unable to move. "Why can't I move?"

"For someone who speaks so lowly of my village, you don't know a lot about the major clans that live here," Shikamaru said. "Now who is who?"

"What do you mean?" Kankuro asked.

"I know that one of you is the real Kankuro and the other is your puppet, but which is which?" Shikamaru pondered.

"Ha, you'll never figure out which one of us is the real one," Kankuro laughed. "And you are running out of time. Your jutsu is getting weaker and weaker."

"Then let's wrap this up," Shikamaru said. One tendril of Shikamaru's shadow vanished, freeing one of the Kankuros.

"Wrong guess," Kankuro shouted as he raced toward Shikamaru, a kunai appearing in his hand. Shikamaru slowly turned, his eyes widening in shock and horror, as he raised an arm to try ward off the blow that he knew was coming.

"Gotcha," Shikamaru grinned as he dodged the blow and touched Kankuro's shoulder.

"What?" Kankuro cried as he froze. A wooden clatter filled the arena as the second Kankuro dropped to the floor, the sand covering his face drained away revealing that the downed Kankuro was a puppet. "How did you know?"

"That was easy," Shikamaru said. "While our shadows are connected, I can notice any movements you make, no matter how small. So I could tell that you were the real one because your fingers were moving. I suggest you give up."

"I'll never give up," Kankuro growled, trying frantically to free himself from Shikamaru's jutsu.

"Suit yourself," Shikamaru shrugged, Kankuro copying his movements. "**Shadow Strangulation Jutsu!**"

"What's going on, what are you doing?" Kankuro gasped as he felt something move up his legs.

"It is one of my clan's jutsus," Shikamaru explained. "If you don't give up, you will lose. The close you get to me, the stronger my shadow's hold is. And you are much too close to escape."

Shadowy hands continued to creep up Kankuro's legs, as the Sand ninja continued to struggle but he couldn't move. Slowly the hands reached Kankuro's neck, and stopped there. Kankuro flinched at the cold feel of the hands touching his skin.

"Last chance," Shikamaru said. "If you don't surrender, I will finish this."

"I'm a ninja of Sunagakure no Sato, and I'll never surrender to the likes of you," Kankuro shouted.

"Fine then," Shikamaru growled. He could feel the strain of the **Shadow Strangulation Jutsu** beginning to take its toll, his father had warned him that using the jutsu for prolonged periods of time before being ready was not a good idea. But Shikamaru had vowed to himself, after seeing what being lackadaisical with being a ninja could do, to get stronger in order to never see his teammates in pain again.

"Gah!" Kankuro gasped as the shadowy hands began to squeeze.

"That's enough!" Hayate said, jumping into the fray. "Winner, Shikamaru Nara."

Shikamaru released his jutsu and fell back onto his butt, panting. "Man that was close," he said. "Just a few seconds longer, and I would have exhausted all my chakra."

"What! You were bluffing?" Kankuro shouted, enraged at losing to Shikamaru.

"No, I could have easily snapped your neck back then," Shikamaru said, his face stern and harsh. "But that would have been too troublesome, and could have caused issues between our two villages if I killed the oldest son of the Kazekage in a simple preliminary match."

"Well done Shikamaru," Asuma chuckled as he landed behind his student.

"Yeah whatever," Shikamaru grumbled as he struggled to his feet.

Kankuro snarled as he made his way back to the viewing platform.

"You lost Kankuro," a cold voice said as Kankuro reached his team. The puppeteer froze as he looked up at his teammates. The short redhead was the one who had spoken.

"S…sorry Gaara," Kankuro stammered. "I…I underestimated my opponent."

"Yes you did," Gaara said. "You failed miserably and lost."

Kankuro flinched at the cold, dead look in Gaara's eyes. "I'm sorry," Kankuro apologized again. Gaara turned away from his older brother as the board began to scroll through the remaining names. The board's beep drew the attention of the arena.

"The next preliminary match will be between Choji Akimichi of Konoha and Karin of Kusa," Hayate announced. "Would the two participants come down here?"

"Good luck Choji," Naruto called as the friendly Akimichi heir ambled his way down to the floor, stuffing chips into his mouth at a frantic pace. Across the hall, Choji's red-haired opponent was making her way down to the floor as well.

"So how much do you think Choji has grown since the Wave?" Naruto asked his two teammates, as Choji and Karin got ready to face off against each other. "Shikamaru learned some new tricks."

"Well with the way Choji was inhaling those chips, he still hasn't mastered his clan's abilities," Sasuke said. "The fact that he was eating so much tells me that his chakra levels are still pretty low."

"True but his opponent doesn't look like much," Sakura said. "She doesn't look very strong or fast."

"Don't underestimate her," Naruto said. "She's on the same team as Hitsryu and they got through the Forest."

"I guess so," Sakura admitted though she still didn't look convinced.

"Quiet, they are about to begin," Sasuke ordered.

"Are you two ready?" Hayate asked, and received two nods in return. "All right then, the third match will begin!"

"**Partial Expansion Jutsu!**" Choji shouted. His body expanded to three times its normal size.

"Eep!" Karin cried as Choji's arms and legs withdrew into his clothes, making his body resemble a large cannonball.

"**Rolling Meat Boulder!**" Choji's muffled voice cried out as he began to spin rapidly. He surged forward toward Karin, who was barely able to evade the attack. She reached into her pouch and withdrew several smoke bombs.

"Clever," Kakashi commented from behind Team 7.

"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, still not impressed by Karin's abilities.

"Watch," Kakashi answered cryptically, causing Sakura to huff in annoyance.

Karin threw the smoke bombs on the ground, causing most of the arena to be covered in smoke and obscuring the spectators' views.

"No Choji!" Shikamaru shouted as Choji raced into the smoke cloud, still in his ball form.

"Man I can't see anything," Naruto whined.

"That was the point of Karin's move," Sasuke said. "If we can't see her, then neither can Choji, and that gives her the advantage."

"But it makes this so boring," Naruto pouted, resting his head on the railing.

"Naruto, stop acting like a child," Sakura scolded. "And just be patient."

Inside the cloud of smoke, Karin had her eyes closed and was focusing on singling out her opponent's chakra signature, and while she could tell which was Choji's, it was the only one moving around. Karin was having difficulty focusing in on it due to the other signatures that were all around her. The Hokage's chakra presence was nearly overwhelming along with the jonin around him, Kakashi Hatake and Asuma Sarutobi among others famous shinobi. Karin also felt the tightly coiled and icy cold chakra coming from a lone Leaf ninja standing at the far end of the arena in waves, however there were two signatures that drew her attention. The massive amount of chakra flowing off the blonde boy from Konoha was staggering, and it felt like Karin was being bathed in warm sunlight while the cool and calm chakra presence of the dark haired Uchiha sent shivers up and down Karin's arms and legs. That chakra felt like the cold touch of a full moon on a cloudless night.

"Shit!" Karin cursed as while she was distracted by the chakra flowing around the room, Choji had managed to find her and was bearing down on her. Karin leapt away and pulled out several slips of paper. '_The smoke is thinning, I will have only one shot at this,_' Karin thought as she backed herself up against a wall. Moving quickly, Karin placed two slips of paper on the floor and the other two on the wall behind her. '_Let's see if the Intel on Konoha's Akimichi clan is right._'

"Hey fatso! I'm over here!"

The Konoha crowd was shocked at Karin's shout. They all knew that you didn't call a member of the Akimichi clan fat, if you knew what was good for you.

"I'm not FAT!" Choji roared. "I am pleasantly plump! **Rolling Meat Boulder!**"

Choji once again spun rapidly before tearing off toward Karin, who looked shocked at her own outburst. Karin backed up, bumping into the wall; the spectators watched on as the look on Karin's face morphed from shock and fear into a look of smug satisfaction.

Karin sank into the arena floor just before Choji ran her over, vanishing from sight. Choji, unable to stop himself, slammed right into the wall.

"Activate!" Karin said with a grin. The four slips of paper that Karin had placed earlier in the match grew white as they activated. Electricity raced from tag to tag, ensnaring Choji in a cage of electricity. "**Fuinjutsu: Electric Entrapment!**"

Choji cried out in pain as he was wrapped up in arcs of electricity.

"You should give up," Karin said. "There is no way you'll be able to break free of my trap. So give up."

"Come on Choji, get out of there," Shikamaru muttered, his hands gripping the railing so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

Hayate watched on dispassionately as electricity surged through the young Konoha genin's body, though inside he was cringing. He had been caught in a similar trap during the Third Shinobi War, and being constantly attacked by electricity is no fun.

"All right, that's enough," Hayate said, stepping in as Karin's trap sent another surge of electricity through Choji. "Winner, Karin of Kusa."

Karin released the fuinjutsu and Choji fell to the floor, his muscles still twitching randomly due to the aftereffects of the lightning that had coursed through his body. A medical team came running out onto the arena floor with a stretcher. One of the medics made several hand signs causing his hand to glow a pale blue, and then placed his hand on Choji's forehead. Choji's face relaxed and his body went limp. The medics lifted Choji up and placed him on the stretcher.

"Choji?" Shikamaru called out as the stretcher neared the wall.

"Don't worry, he's just asleep," the lead medic said. "With the damage to his nerves and muscles, it's better that Akimichi-san is asleep for this, this way he won't feel as much pain."

Shikamaru nodded and watched on as the medics carried Choji out of the arena. Naruto watched as Choji's opponent, Karin, return to her team who stoically congratulated her. To the blonde, it seemed that her teammates were not very familiar with Karin.

"Naruto!"

The blonde jumped in surprise at the loud shout of his name, and turned to find Sakura looking at him, her arms crossed and a foot tapping in impatience.

"Heh, sorry Sakura-chan, what did you need?" Naruto asked, rubbing the back of his head.

Sakura rolled her eyes in annoyance and huffed. "Why were you staring at that girl from Kusa?" she asked.

"Well, she used a fuinjutsu to trap Choji, you don't see a ninja use fuinjutsu as their main weapon," Naruto said. "I'm wondering where she learned it."

"Oh, I guess you are right," Sakura said quickly. "It was an impressive fuinjutsu."

"What did you think I was doing?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing," Sakura said in a huff, looking away.

"Wait, were you jealous or something?"

"Oh course not, you idiot!" Sakura shouted. "Why should I be?" she asked, raising a clenched fist.

"Ok Sakura-chan, ok, no need to get angry," Naruto said, his hands out in calming gesture.

"Enough bickering you two," Sasuke said. "The next match is about to begin."

Naruto and Sakura turned and looked down to see that one of Lee's teammates, Tenten, was facing off against the Sand kunoichi. Naruto looked up and saw that the blonde kunoichi was named Temari.

"The fourth match between Tenten of Konoha and Temari Sabaku of Suna will now begin!" Hayate said.

What followed was a very unexpected result for the Konoha genin, and it frightened several of them. Tenten boasted that she was nothing like some kunoichi that only became ninja to impress boys or because it looked fun, that she was going to surpass the great Tsunade Senju, the Slug Princess and medical genius of the Sannin.

Temari didn't respond to Tenten's boast, she just waited for Tenten to begin the fight. Tenten drew a string of kunai and hurled them at Temari with a speed that surprised the spectators, and Temari judging by the widening of Temari's teal-colored eyes but the blonde kunoichi reacted just as quickly and dove out of the way. Rolling to her feet, Temari grabbed the large metal beam and yanked it off her back.

"When you see all three moons, this fight will be over," Temari declared. The metal beam was revealed to be a fan as it was opened slightly to show a purple circle.

Tenten only huffed and pulled out more kunai and shuriken. She began hurling the projectiles at Temari, who merely waved her fan in front of her, and the kunai and shuriken were scattered.

"Is that all you can do? Throw pointy things and run around?" Temari mocked. "Some kunoichi."

Tenten's face twisted into a fierce scowl and she grabbed two scrolls from her back. "Then try this one on for size!" she shouted. "Let's see if your fan can stop this! **Twin Rising Dragon!**"

Tenten's scrolls unfurled as they were tossed into the air. Suddenly the scrolls exploded and kunai, shuriken, and all manner of pointy things began raining down on Temari but the Suna kunoichi didn't look fazed at all. She only opened her fan wider to show two purple moons.

"**Wind Release: Rising Gale!**" Temari cried, whipping her fan out in front of her. A large swirl of wind appeared in front of Temari and casually swatted aside each and every single piece of weaponry that Tenten had thrown and summoned.

"I missed?" Tenten whispered in shock, as the ground around her was littered with weapons, her weapons.

"You did, I won't," Temari scoffed. "**Wind Release: Tempest Force!**" The Sand kunoichi slashed her fan in front of her and a large swath of wind raced toward Tenten. The Leaf kunoichi tried to evade the attack but was not quick enough as the attack grew and widened.

Tenten screamed as the Wind jutsu slammed into her and propelled the prone Tenten across the arena and sent her careening into the opposite wall. The Konoha shinobi winced as one as Tenten crashed into the wall with a meaty thud.

"Winner, Temari of Suna," Hayate announced.

Temari sneered at Tenten as she walked away from the floor. "Pathetic wanna-be kunoichi," she muttered, though it was loud enough to be heard by the entire arena.

"That's got to hurt," Naruto commented, watching Tenten be carried off by the medics. "And for a girl who wants to prove that kunoichi can be as strong as male ninja and surpass Tsunade Senju, Tenten didn't really show much."

"Don't mock my teammate's youthfulness," Lee shouted, stunned that Naruto would say something like that.

"I'm not mocking Tenten Lee," Naruto argued. "I am just saying that Tenten only showed that she can throw weapons. She is amazingly accurate and all but one has to wonder what else she can do, especially with your sensei, a world famous taijutsu master, teaching her."

Lee looked like he still wanted to argue with Naruto but the hand of his sensei gave him pause.

"Lee, Naruto-kun is correct," Gai said. "Tenten is a wonderful student and very youthful in her pursuit of her dream but she is single-minded in her use of weapons. But she does not broaden her horizons in combating her weaknesses. Hopefully this defeat will most certainly stoke Tenten's flames of youth into an inferno."

The board beeped again, signaling a new matchup.

"Would Neji Hyuga of Konoha and Kenshin Ryu of Kusa please come down here?" Hayate asked.

"Hyuga?" Naruto asked. "So he's from the same clan as Hinata, right?"

Neji bristled when he heard Naruto's question, as the teammate of Lee and Tenten made his way down to the floor.

"Yes, they are both of the Hyuga clan," Lee said. "But Hinata is from the Main family while Neji is from the Branch family. Now I must apologize for deceiving you Sasuke, but I lied when I said that I was the strongest genin in our village. That title goes to Neji, he is the strongest genin in the village."

"Is he now?" Sasuke asked, his interest peaked.

**A/N: Well there you have it, the newest chapter of _Naruto: Hidden Legacy_. As you can tell, we've reached the preliminary arc of the story, I've tried to mix up some of the match ups as well as still hold true to the characters and their abilities. And yes, Hitsryu was modeled after Kurama from _Yu Yu Hakusho_, one of my favorite animes. Also, next time will the second half of the preliminaries but chapter twelve will be the start of a new _Naruto_, so please be patient. Anyway, let me know what you all think of these fights since that has always been something I believe I've struggled with, writing action scenes, so any advice will be welcome. Til next time,**

**SlytherinNinjaKnight**


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